July mission numbers double for Taupō's Greenlea rescue helicopter

Ruapehu Alpine Rescue Organisation team members help carry a climber who had fallen 30m down a cliff on Mt Ruapehu to the Greenlea rescue helicopter. Photo / Supplied

The numbers just keep on rising for Taupō's Greenlea rescue helicopter.

In July the helicopter's missions numbered a massive 54 - nearly two per day and more than double the 24 callouts in July 2019.

That followed a busy time during June, which had itself recorded 35 missions.

This year is shaping up as a record-breaking year for the rescue helicopter. In 2019 the helicopter completed 377 missions and although it is just over seven months into the year it is already sitting at 273 missions, with more than four months in the year to go.

That's also despite a lower than usual number of missions during April and May due to the level four lockdown.

August is also following the pattern, with several days already in the month recording two or even three missions, with a mix of medical events and accidents.

One of the most serious came on the afternoon of Saturday, August 1, when the helicopter was called to the amphitheatre on the Whakapapa Skifield together with the Lowe Corporation rescue helicopter from Hawke's Bay for two climbers who had fallen 30m down a cliff.

Members of the Ruapehu Alpine Rescue Organisation (RARO) had already reached the climbers and the helicopter's onboard intensive care paramedic Rob Keating was hover offloaded to near the RARO team, where a 35-year-old woman who had sustained a serious back injury was given initial treatment. She was then hover loaded into the chopper with the help of the RARO team and taken to Rotorua Hospital for further treatment.

The helicopter was dispatched in foggy conditions on Wednesday August 5, to Whanganui Bay on the western side of Lake Taupō, a journey of just 15 minutes, where a man in his 70s was suffering from a medical emergency. Intensive care paramedic Rob Keating treated him at the scene before he was taken to Taupō Hospital for further assessment.

The Greenlea rescue helicopter lands at the remote settlement of Whanganui Bay on Lake Taupō. Photo / Supplied

The same afternoon, shortly after 2pm the helicopter was dispatched to Iwikau Medical Centre at Whakapapa Skifield where at 16-year-old female was suffering an anaphylactic reaction. She was airlifted to Taumarunui Hospital.

A quiet few days followed but it was a very early start for the on-duty crew on Sunday, August 9, when they were paged shortly after midnight to transport a patient with an acute medical condition from Rotorua Hospital to Waikato Hospital. The flying conditions were as good as they get, with a crystal clear night and the stars shining through the night vision goggles, a piece of essential equipment that help the team fly at night.

Once back at base, the crew was paged at around 10am where they were tasked to Turangi for a woman in her 60s that had had a seizure. She was airlifted the 40 minutes to Waikato Hospital.

While heading back to base, the crew was redirected to the Taupō motocross track for a teenager that was suffering from serious lower back and pelvis injuries following a crash on the course. She was treated at the scene and transported to Waikato Hospital.

On Wednesday, August 12 the Greenlea rescue helicopter was off to pick up a 74-year-old male at Chateau Tongariro suffering from a stroke, who was flown to Waikato Hospital. The helicopter was dispatched to Taumarunui in the late afternoon the same day for a 16-year-old boy suffering from seizures. The onboard intensive care paramedic treated the seriously-ill patient with the help of on-scene ambulance personnel before airlifting the patient to Waikato Hospital for further assessment.

Clouds of pine pollen are blown out of the forests as the Greenlea rescue helicopter flies above Motuoapa, north of Tūrangi. Photo / Supplied

The third and final job of the day came at 9pm on Wednesday evening the Greenlea Rescue Helicopter was tasked with transporting a medically unwell 93-year-old man from Taupō Hospital to Waikato Hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest.

The next day, the helicopter was off to Whakapapa Skifield to help an 18-year-old woman who had broken her arm skiing. She was treated in the medical centre before being transported to Hastings Hospital for further assessment. The helicopter was back at the skifield the very next day on Friday, August 14 to airlift a skier in his 50s who had injured his leg. The skier was taken to Palmerston North Hospital in a stable condition.