Aerocool Rescue Helicopter: Hikers trapped by Kaimai Range slip among 39 February missions

The Aerocool Rescue Helicopter relies on support from the public and sponsors.

Two hikers trapped by a slip in the Kaimai Range were winched to safety by a rescue helicopter crew.

The rescue was one of 39 missions flown by the Tauranga-based Aerocool Rescue Helicopter in February

Of the operations, 13 were inter-hospital transfers, three were medical events, 17 were rural and farm incidents, five motor-vehicle accidents and one was a rescue mission, Phillips Search and Rescue Trust said in a statement today.

The hikers were rescued on February 11, with both patients winched up by the onboard critical care flight paramedics and flown to Tauranga Hospital for further treatment.

Almost 50 per cent of February missions were to rural or remote locations.

On February 4, the Aerocool Rescue Helicopter was sent to a town north of Rotorua for a patient in their 30s suffering from serious fracture injuries after a vehicle crash.

The patient was flown to Waikato Hospital for treatment.

On the night of February 7, the helicopter attended Waihau Bay after a woman in her 60s was suffering from sepsis and in a serious condition. The patient was flown to Tauranga Hospital for further treatment.

On February 9, it went to Motiti Island for a woman in her 60s who was suffering from a medical event, flying her to Tauranga Hospital.

That same day the rescue crew flew a woman in her 20s suffering from birthing difficulties from Tauranga Hospital to Waikato Hospital.

In the early hours of February 19, the chopper was dispatched to a small town north of Coromandel for a young boy suffering from a serious medical condition, flying him to Waikato Hospital.

That night, it flew a teenage girl who had fallen off a horse and suffered a serious head injury from Whakatane Hospital to Waikato Hospital.

On February 22, it took a woman in her 80s suffering from a serious medical event from Tauranga Hospital to Auckland Hospital.

The month ended with the Aerocool Rescue Helicopter crew being sent to a small town east of Rotorua for a man in his 70s suffering from a serious medical event, who was flown to Waikato Hospital.

The fast response of the rescue helicopter and its highly trained crew ensured the patients received the best care as quickly as possible, the trust said in the statement.

These life-saving missions were impossible without the generous support from the public and sponsors.