Despite tricky weather conditions the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team successfully completed six missions in the seven days from Monday, May 6.

On that day they responded to a medical event at Te Araroa (1.43pm, patient flown in stable condition to Gisborne Hospital).

Just after 12noon the following day they transported a patient who was in serious condition after suffering a medical event, transferring them from Gisborne to Waikato Hospital.

At 2.30pm on May 9 they were back in the air, responding to a trauma at Ruatoria (patient flown in stable condition to Gisborne Hospital).

On Saturday, May 11 the team was recalled to Ruatoria, again in response to a trauma, with the patient flown in serious condition to Gisborne Hospital.

And on Sunday they completed two missions, the first (12.06pm) transporting a patient who had suffered a medical event from Gisborne to Waikato Hospital; and the second at 4pm, when they flew direct from Hamilton to a medical event in Hicks Bay, from where the patient was taken in serious condition to Gisborne Hospital.

“While the service was originally founded to carry out lifesaving work in rural and remote areas, hospital transfers – contracted by Te Whatu Ora – are also a critical part of the team’s work,” says EHRT chair Patrick Willock.

“It means vulnerable patients can be transported directly from one hospital’s door to another, reducing trauma at what might be one of the most challenging times of their lives.”

CAPTION: QUICK TURNAROUND: The Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter refuels at Waikato Hospital, to where the team last week transported two seriously ill patients.