In the week from 12.01am on December 27 to midnight on December 2 the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter flew a dozen completed missions, from a sea search and a car crash to medical, trauma and transfer events.

It started early for the team which was dispatched at 1.30am on December 27 in response to a medical event at Tikitiki, from where the patient was flown in a stable condition to Gisborne Hospital.

At midday the following day they headed to a motor vehicle accident at Rere, with two patients – both in stable condition – flown to Gisborne Hospital.

And at 9.30pm the next night they helped in a search at Sponge Bay, spotting a couple of teens who had miscalculated the tide and been stranded on nearby Tuamotu Island. The pair were then rescued by Surf Lifeguards operating inflatable rescue boats.

December 30 was a big day for the team with four missions flown, all to the East Coast. At 11.40am they were dispatched to Waiahu for a trauma (patient flown in stable condition to Whakatane Hospital); at 4.14pm they headed to Ruatoria for a medical event (patient flown in stable condition to Gisborne Hospital); at 6.30pm they returned to Ruatoria for another medical event (patient flown in stable condition to Gisborne Hospital); and at 11.15pm they made a night flight to Te Puia Springs from where the patient, who was suffering a medical event, was flown in critical condition to Gisborne Hospital.

It was another big day on New Year’s Eve with a further four missions flown – to Mahia (a medical event at 6.30am, patient flown in serious condition to Gisborne Hospital); to Ruatoria (a medical event at 9.20am, patient flown in stable condition to Gisborne Hospital); to Tikitiki (a medical event at 6.30pm, patient flown in stable condition to Gisborne Hospital); and to Rangitukia (a medical event at 8.30pm, patient flown in stable condition to Gisborne Hospital).

The first couple of days of January, however, proved to be quiet, enabling the team to do a medical transfer from Gisborne (January 2, 9pm), transporting a patient in serious condition for further treatment at Waikato Hospital.