Quieter time for Taupō's Greenlea rescue helicopter after busy two months

The Greenlea rescue helicopter in flight. Photo / File

It's been a quieter spell for the Taupō-based Greenlea rescue helicopter recently, after record numbers of callouts during July and August.

The last two and half weeks have only required the rescue helicopter to be called out six times.

On the evening of Friday, September 18, the Greenlea helicopter was dispatched to a dairy farm near Broadlands Forest where a farm worker in his 20s had come off his motorbike in a paddock, fracturing his leg. He was treated by the onboard intensive care paramedic before being transported to Rotorua Hospital.

On Sunday, September 20, the on-duty helicopter crew had an early start when a critical patient at Taupō Hospital required an immediate transfer to Rotorua Hospital.

Later that day at 5.30pm the crew were dispatched to Tokaanu where a teenager had burnt both legs and his feet after getting into a geothermal mud pool. He was treated at the scene by the intensive care paramedic then flown to Waikato Hospital.

Five days later the rescue helicopter was sent to Mt Tauhara for a 23-year-old woman who had injured her ankle while walking down the track from the summit.

St John ambulance staff had found her and put a call out for assistance due to the remote location, terrain, and distance from the road. The helicopter's intensive care paramedic was winched down to the walker to provide medical help before both were winched out. The woman was flown to Taupō Hospital.

On Tuesday, September 29 the rescue helicopter joined the TECT rescue helicopter from Tauranga at a motor vehicle accident near Otorohanga. A injured person was taken to Waikato Hospital.

A ute rollover near Mangakino just before 3.30am last Monday morning had the helicopter out searching for the scene of the crash, which had not been confirmed.

It was found just out of Wharepapa South on Waipapa Rd, where a man in his 20s had lost control of the ute and rolled multiple times into a paddock. He was thrown from the vehicle, receiving serious leg injuries, and was flown to Waikato Hospital.