In a week of challenging weather the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team delivered a solid schedule of seven completed missions, but were turned back on two occasions due to the conditions.

The seven-day reporting period started on Monday, June 24 with a 9.30am response to a medical event at Te Araroa, from where the patient was flown in stable condition to Gisborne Hospital.

As the weather closed in that afternoon the team joined the search for a small fishing boat with three men on board that was believed to have gone missing off the coast around Gisborne. The alarm was raised just before 4pm and the team was dispatched 70 minutes later, taking off at 5.13pm to conduct a one-hour-35-minute grid search before being stood down due to the lack of visibility.

The next day, after two people were sighted in the ocean off Mahia Peninsula, the Eastland Rescue Helicopter again joined the search and from just after 2.30pm conducted a tight, 75-minute search over the identified area. However, with wild weather and no visual contact made, the team was stood-down at 3.45pm.

The three fishermen were found deceased on the shore at Mahia the following day.

Meanwhile, the week’s mission schedule continued with:

– June 26, 12.01pm – The Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter responded to a trauma at Tolaga Bay and flew the patient in stable condition to Gisborne Hospital.

– June 26, 2.54pm – The team responded to a medical event at Waipiro Bay, again flying the patient in stable condition to Gisborne Hospital.

– June 28, 12.30am – The Eastland Rescue Helicopter responded to a medical event at Te Whare Hauora o Ngati Porou/Te Puia Springs Hospital but was turned back due to weather conditions.

– June 28, 11.30am – The Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter carried out an inter-hospital transfer, flying the patient in serious condition from Gisborne to Waikato Hospital.

– June 30, 4.35am — The Eastland Rescue Helicopter was dispatched to a motor vehicle accident at Te Puia Springs but was turned back due to weather conditions.

– June 30, 7.39am – The team completed another inter-hospital transfer, this time flying the patient in stable condition from Gisborne to Auckland Hospital.

“It was a taxing week for all first responders working in our region and a very tough time for the community,” says Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust chair Patrick Willock.

“We’re proud of all the work done by our Eastland Rescue Helicopter team, but this week again highlighted the challenges they face and the lengths to which they will go in rising to them.”

CAPTION: SAFE LANDING: Before bad weather truly set in last week, the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter stole a Monday morning (9.30am) window for a mission in response to a medical event at Te Araroa, where they landed on the freshly-poured new helipad at Matakaoa Community Health Clinic.