Proud year of rescues
Rescue helicopter responded to 346 callouts
From helping search for a group of teen-trampers in the Ruahine Range to responding to a serious crash that hospitalised eight people, 2020 was another big year for the Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter’s team.
The team responded to 346 callouts last year, a 15 per cent increase compared to 2019.
General manager Ian Wilmot said the year’s missions included “a bit of everything”.
“We had a number of accidents we attended, medical events, hospital transfers, searches for the police and rescue coordination centre. “They are all a little different.” One of the biggest factors in each rescue related to weather conditions, he said. “If the weather is difficult and winds are blowing that always makes it a little more challenging.”
Weather was a big factor in the Ruahine Range rescue on November 23 involving four teen trampers starting to show signs of hypothermia.
Having grown up near the Palmerston North Hospital, 17-year-old Olly Dale is no stranger to seeing the rescue choppers transporting critically ill or injured people — his family has previously sponsored the Palmerston North Rescue Helicopter.
He himself once entertained thoughts of becoming an air paramedic but never imagined that he’d end up flying in one as a patient.
But after noticing he and his three friends were showing signs of hypothermia during a tramping trip, they made the difficult but ultimately life saving call to activate their personal locator beacon, with the Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter dispatched shortly after.
“I don’t really remember [seeing the chopper arrive].
“From what I’ve been told, I was coming in and out of consciousness. “I do remember the relief.” While certainly no stranger to the bush and well-prepared, Dale said he and his friends were “lucky” to have access to such services in New Zealand. He said they were incredibly grateful to the rescue team.
Another notable rescue was the State Highway 5 crash near Tarawera in October involving a truck and a van load of RSE workers — one person was killed and eight others injured.
The Lowe Corporation Rescue Helicopter was he first of three helicopters to arrive, transporting one patient in critical condition who has since been discharged.
“That was a particularly challenging job for triaging and prioritising the patients,” Wilmot said. “That’s one job we’d be particularly proud of.”
Wilmot said it had been a “satisfying” year being able to provide a high level of service to the community.
With three fulltime pilots, three fulltime crew and a third paramedic about to begin, he said they were well placed to respond.
“I think one of the reasons why we have seen an increased number of jobs is we are very well resourced.
“It’s community contributions that make it happen. We are still very heavily dependent on community sponsorship.”
He said he was very grateful to the people of Hawke’s Bay for enabling the service to continue.
Hawke’s Bay base manager Bill Hartree also praised the team for the efforts over the year.
“It is a real acknowledgement of the professionalism and skill of the team that we have completed so many successful missions.”
This year was also ready shaping up to be another busy one. “We have been doing on average one mission per day but over this extra busy Christmas and New Year period we have been doing two or even three missions per day.”