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Just a few minutes after Saturday night’s magnitude 5 earthquake – at 11.20pm, located south of Tolaga Bay — the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter made rumbles of its own as it took off for Gisborne Hospital.
Every year Sarah Laurie sends biscuits and chocolates to rescue helicopter teams around the country to offer Christmas cheer at a busy time of year. But this year one team will be seeing her in person.
It appears the summer travelling season is well under way with motor vehicle accidents making up half the week’s missions carried out by the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter.
Already being in the air meant the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter was the first rescue helicopter on the scene of a multi-vehicle accident on State Highway 1, near Tirau.
Gisborne Motorcycle Sports Club ended its 2024 season with a fun day on the track that raised $1700 for the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust.
The Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter at the weekend joined a multi-agency response to a serious motor vehicle accident south of Opotiki.
Food wholesaler Bidfood has long supported the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust but this year it stepped things up, and for good reason.
A little girl caused a big noise after she arrived in the world last Tuesday, when she and her parents were helicoptered from their Mahia home to Gisborne Hospital.
The blessing of a new rest facility next to the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust hangar also marked the unveiling of a name that celebrates the past while looking forward to the future.
The Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter winched a patient to safety after responding to a boating accident near Tuamotu Island, just off Gisborne’s Sponge Bay.
Long-run inter-hospital transfers of patients in serious condition dominated the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter’s dispatches for the week, with two road accidents rounding out the mission schedule.
Laurence Rau knows well the importance of helicopter rescue.
After six months of relying on cover crew, the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter once again has a full staff of critical care flight paramedics.
Having been brought up in Kent, England, Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter’s new clinical team member says he’s always loved working in rural surrounds, and it’s even better from the air.
Five years after first seeing Kiwi air ambulances in action, critical care paramedic Alex Mihalcea has “flight” to his job title and joined the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team.
The combination of a generous donation and some smart buying has given the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team an extra layer of protection when carrying out water rescues.
It was a week of long runs for the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter.
When Daniel Fogarty’s phone started pinging with texts late one Friday night he was not sure what he was seeing.
In the face of a tough year and a community that has faced big demands in charitable support, the Westpac Chopper Appeal raised a healthy amount for the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust.
It was a case of wins and losses at Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust’s biggest fundraiser of the year, held at the Showgrounds Event Centre on Friday.
From last week the aircraft flown by the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter service has looked different and it works different, too.
We all have great mates but the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust’s Patrick Willock has some of the best.
Hugh Trafford spent countless hours crafting the hunting knife he has donated to the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust Bayleys Charity Auction, and says it is likely the last he will ever make.
Gisborne banking team members went for a double-whammy with their first donation from the newly-founded Westpac Central North Island East Bay Regional Board.
An eight-mission schedule took the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter to areas from Hicks Bay to Hawke’s Bay and Hamilton in the seven-day reporting period from Monday, August 26.
A journey over the rocks near Tuahine Point did not end well for one walker who suffered damage to their lower leg, and had to be uplifted by the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter.
A week that started with transfer flights and ended with high winds made for a light schedule for the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter
Though twice taken out-of-zone for maintenance flights, the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team still successfully completed five missions in the seven days from August 5.
Work is underway on an Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust hangar add-on that will help shore up emergency services in the region.
Tickets for the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust’s biggest annual fundraiser have not even dropped yet but are already in hot demand.
Gisborne’s rescue helicopter service has continued its trend of increasing activity with an upswing of nearly 20 percent in reportable flights for the first half of 2024.
From fashioning arm-slings for injured schoolmates to providing intensive care from the air . . . critical care flight paramedic LORRIN KELLY reflects on her career pathway as the profession marks International Paramedics Day 2024.
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.
A night-shift handover marked the end of an era for the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter critical care flight paramedic team.
In a break from tradition, the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust will raffle off a near-new Ford Ranger ute, rather than auctioning it, so more people can be in to win.
The Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter can (and does) fly in the rain but low cloud or persistent fog can keep it grounded.
When faced with reduced work hours most people would look at their budgets and tighten their belts, but not Aomihi and Dick Cook. Instead, the East Coast couple set up a regular donation to the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust.
Relatively clear conditions meant the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter was able to fly five of its eight missions for the week under cover of darkness.
A dicky heart, a helicopter, and a hotel by the sea . . . Te Puka Tavern owner Greg Connelly reflects on the stories he will soon get to tell at someone else’s pub.
A motorcross race meet ended abruptly on Sunday for one rider who was injured in a fall on the juniors track.
Like the central link in a multi-threaded chain, rescue helicopter crewmen need to quickly receive, process, prioritise and communicate information between everyone from the pilot and critical care paramedic to on-ground first-response crews, the Airdesk, and hospital contacts.
A period of challenging weather meant the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team faced a slow start to the week, which ended with a flurry of missions over the weekend.
Improved access to the helipad at Te Puia Hospital will help ease the journey for patients being transported by the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter.
Despite tricky weather conditions the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team successfully completed six missions in the seven days from Monday, May 6.
Despite a cyclone-free start to 2024 the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter has continued a mission schedule that last year leapt 45 percent on the 12 months before.
The Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team called on their bushcraft skills with a weekend search that involved multiple landings, an on-foot river crossing, and a hike out of the forest.
It means different things to different people when the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter does its annual Anzac Day flyover, lights illuminating the river as it sweeps past the Cenotaph in the smokey light of dawn.
One East Coast resident was supposed to arrive in style to Sunday’s opening of the Te Araroa Aerodrome but (saving) life got in the way.
Two years after it was last on offer the coveted fishing trip to Samoa will be back on the menu when this year’s Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust annual charity auction rolls around in September.
Farmer Jeremy Watson was miles from home when he was injured in a quad bike accident, but help was on its way . . .
Two North Island rescue helicopters worked in tandem in response to a serious motor vehicle accident near Waihau Bay on Saturday.
Despite a week in which their aircraft was at times off-base for maintenance the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team still delivered a tight schedule of nine missions for the seven days from Monday, March 18.
A special fly-over towards the end of play reminded golfers just why they were playing in the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust Charity Golf Tournament.
Last week got off to a brisk start for the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter with Monday’s team carrying out three of the 11 missions completed over the seven days until Sunday.
It has been more than a year since Cyclone Gabrielle hit the Tairāwhiti region but tradies like those at Laser Electrical and Laser Plumbing still have post-cyclone jobs on their books.
The Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter traversed all land directions of the region – from north to west to south – in carrying out the eight missions completed in the seven days from Monday, February 26.
He might be base manager but critical care flight paramedic Richard Curtis still had to share a helmet with another member of the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team.
After the previous week’s hectic workload of a dozen completed missions the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team had a reprieve from their usual busy schedule…
In the week to Sunday the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team flew two helicopters and completed 12 missions, nearly twice their usual weekly average.
Eagle-eyed East Coast residents spotted a bird of a different feather as the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter carried out its week of life-saving missions.
The arrival of a new pilot is the final piece in the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team puzzle and a very important milestone, says Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust chair Patrick Willock.
The Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team ended 2023 with a hectic programme, the 43 missions completed in December surpassed only by the 53 flown in February, when the region was in a State of Emergency after Cyclone Gabrielle.
The arrival of pilot Shaun Stewart is an important milestone as it takes the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter service to having its much-anticipated full team of 12.
When Georgia Colvin turned up at the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust hangar with a Christmas chocolate cake she was already mates with members of the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team.
Six people were injured on Sunday evening when their car left the road and plunged into the river just past the midway point of the Waioeka Gorge.
Despite a quiet start to the New Year and an equally quiet end to the week, the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter flew a full schedule of eight missions for the seven days January 1 to January 7.
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.
A long-time supporter of rescue helicopter services, Stuart Brenchley had never been uplifted himself . . . until now.
A near-drowning, a motor vehicle accident, a trauma injury and four medical events made up a hectic Christmas list for the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter in the week from December 19 to the early hours of Boxing Day.
Having worked in emergency medicine on the East Coast, Leah Koretz is building new skills as the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter service’s newest – and youngest – air crew officer.
The benefits of a 24/7 service were clear last week when six out of the eight missions flown by the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter were outside of normal business hours.
Sunday saw an early start for the Trust Tairāwhiti Rescue Helicopter whose final mission of the week was a 2.30am call-out to a trauma at Ruatoria, from where the patient was flown in stable condition to Gisborne Hospital.
James Moore will turn 14 just before Christmas but, this year, he decided someone else should get the presents.
A long-time member of the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team has finally retired but it’s not one of the team . . . it’s the trusty red Mazda 3 that has served as crew car for the past few years.
The need for the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter to upgrade to an Instrument Flight Rules-capable aircraft became even more clear after the team’s work was hampered by a week of low-lying cloud.
It was a quiet weekend for missions but busy with meet-and-greets for the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team.
Even lifesavers need to have a life and members of the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team get great cover from Search and Rescue Services Ltd colleagues like pilot Spence Putwain.
The arrival of air crew officer Caz Cundall-Curry takes the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter service a step closer to having its much-anticipated full team of 12.
Three years after joining the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team, Kelley Waite leaves a busy base with hundreds of missions under her belt.
At 1.30 one Friday morning the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter headed to Te Kaha in response to a trauma.
It’s enough to make a landlubber lose their lunch without even leaving the ground, but SRSL’s portable flight simulator is a critical new training tool for rescue helicopter services.
With just three-quarters of the year gone the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter had already completed more missions than for the whole of last year.
he week started with a maintenance flight to Hawke’s Bay and ended with bad weather that hampered flying, but the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter still managed a schedule of five rescue missions during the week from last Monday.
Despite facing a tough year of weather events the community came out in force to support the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust.
Securing a new training ground is a big deal for members of the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team.
Wednesday was a hectic day for helicopter rescues in the region with the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter backed up by aircraft from outside the district.
The crew from St John weren’t the only ones to meet the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team when they responded to a trauma at Ruatoria on Saturday afternoon.
Kim Cranswick had hoped for a glimpse of the stars during a rare tour of Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1, at Mahia Peninsula, but was instead grounded by a couple of cyclones.
Registering Personal Locator Beacons is a great way to ensure emergency resources are used well, says the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team.
Organisers said it was not really a money-making event but still managed to raise nearly $7100 for the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust.
Gisborne is like a home-away-from-home for Kurt Schierning, and that is just as well.
A growing demand for service from the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter continued over the last week with a packed schedule of rescue missions.
The delivery of a helicopter shell will offer emergency responders a ground-based winch-training facility as close to real life as possible.
Aside from responding to a personal locator beacon activation at Toatoa on July 31, all missions flown by the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter in the last week took the team up the East Coast.
A new Ford Escape SUV will ensure critical care flight paramedics can be on the job, even when they are grounded.
This year’s Westpac Chopper Appeal Month resulted in a $12,109 donation for the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust to help keep the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter in the air.
Gisborne and Hawke’s Bay rescue helicopter services joined forces to respond to simultaneous events on the East Coast on Thursday.
The meds were good, but the pain was bad, so a seriously-injured Maz Quinn was stoked to learn that the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter was on its way.
An extra-fast turnaround meant the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter had to be hot-fuelled between jobs that took it first to Ruatoria, then in a separate mission to Hicks Bay.
Even the numbers recorded don’t tell the whole story of just how busy Rescue Helicopter crews were when operating out of the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust hangar in the week after Cyclone Gabrielle.
Less than 16 hours after a State of Emergency was declared in Gisborne, back-up arrived to support the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team as the latest weather event unfolded.
Thomas Grantham laughs when he says barbers were the first surgeons, but he’s not joking . . . until the 19th century “barber-surgeons” did everything from pulling teeth to setting broken bones.
It was a polytech course that led Gareth McDougall to the work in adventure tourism that in turn led to paramedicine. And it was that career that brought him back to his home town of Gisborne.
The arrival of two new team members brings the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team of critical care flight paramedics up to the optimum number needed to operate in the region.
A small machine could make a big difference at a critical time in a patient’s life.
Months of wet weather is continuing to impact the East Coast where the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter had to set down in a rocky riverbed.
A domino effect of call-outs saw the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter off-base for nearly 20 hours, with a sister service swooping in to provide cover for the region.
The Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter will land wherever it can, which last week saw it perched on a track etched into an exposed ridgeline.
In a time of rising costs golfers rose to the occasion to make last week’s Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust Charity Golf Tournament a winning fundraising event.
Neil Kitchen has for years played in the Eastland Helicopter Rescue Trust’s annual Charity Golf Tournament, never thinking he would need the rescue service himself . . .
WESTPAC Bank’s annual Chopper Appeal Month starts today and a Gisborne whanau is sharing their story to encourage donations to keep our community safe.
Cut off in both directions when Cyclone Gabrielle smashed into their roads, a Tiniroto family faced a medical emergency at the worst possible time.
The Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter brought an extra pilot on so the team had four pairs of eyes – instead of the usual three – for a search off the coast of Gisborne on Monday.
With former Defence Force members in their crew, acknowledging Anzac Day with a Dawn Service flyover means a lot to the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team.
While the crew say they were “just doing their jobs”, members of the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team have received special acknowledgement for their work in the days and weeks after Cyclone Gabrielle.
Great direction from people on the ground helped the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter make a safe landing in a sea of silt.
The Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter team has a new member but he’s no stranger to Gisborne . . .
The job of base manager for the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter service requires a lot of commitment, but paramedic Richard Curtis says he’s up for the challenge.
Ruatoria rugby powerhouse Ario Rewi says that, for her, a flight on the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter was the difference between life and death.
Regular – and grateful – users of the Trust Tairāwhiti Eastland Rescue Helicopter service, an East Coast community pulled off their own spectacular fundraiser.
Local mountainbikers could benefit from the cutting of a new helicopter pad
Rescue helicopters joined forces to conduct a search off the coast of Gisborne.
Locator beacons save time and save lives, rescue crew members say.
A day out mustering on Makorori Station turned into a lucky escape for Bing Lincoln.
Lifelong hunter John Sheridan would be the first to admit that, without the kind people of our region who support the Eastland Rescue Helicopter Trust, he would not be with us today.
At 81-years old, local musterer Graham Dever still loves riding and working his dogs. But a simple job on a station at Waerenga-o-Kuri nearly cost him his life.
Long-time supporters of the ECT Rescue Helicopter Kim and Kate Mossman have first-hand experience of the service after Kim suffered injuries that would make any man shiver.
Monday May 18, 2013 started like any other day for new dad Ben Eagle.