On Wednesday morning an 8-year-old girl from Utiku, near Taihape, suffered upper body injuries in an accident at a rural property.
She is understood to have shoulder injuries following a fall.
Airlifting the patient to Palmerston North, the helicopter was again diverted en route, with the on-board intensive care paramedic's skills urgently needed for an elderly Rangiwahia farmer suffering a serious medical event.
"Sadly the man was unable to be saved, and the airlift of the original patient continued to Palmerston North," a rescue helicopter spokesman said.
Within an hour of landing, the helicopter was off to Te Horo, near Otaki, where a 16-year-old had suffered suspected spinal injuries in a trail bike riding mishap. The patient was stabilised at the scene before being flown to Palmerston North Hospital in a serious condition. Within 10 minutes of landing, the helicopter was airborne for a possible winching task to the Pohangina Valley, near Palmerston North, where a man in his 40s was seriously injured in a quad bike roll-over while setting possum traps.
He was airlifted to Palmerston North.
Half an hour after landing, it was off to Apiti, where a Kimbolton man in his 50s had suffered a serious hip injury falling from a horse.
He was flown to Palmerston North Hospital. Late Thursday morning the rescue helicopter went to a Waimarino farm, south of Raetihi, where a Wanganui man in his eighties was suffering a serious medical condition.
The patient was stabilised at the scene by the on-board St John Ambulance intensive care paramedic and airlifted to Wanganui in a stable condition.
Throughout the intense operational period, six different crewing options involving two pilots, two crewmen and four St John Ambulance intensive care paramedics were used in order to assure the uninterrupted provision of service, said a rescue helicopter spokesman.