Taranaki Rescue Helicopter Trust
The Taranaki Community Rescue Helicopter winched an injured Russian sailor from a fishing vessel about 30 nautical miles off the Taranaki coast on Saturday.
Battling four-metre swells, the Taranaki Community Rescue Helicopter winched an injured Russian sailor from a fishing vessel 30 nautical miles off the coast from New Plymouth. The chopper was alerted to the sailor, who had suffered an injury to his upper arm, about 7am on Saturday. The mission was one of six it had flown in five days, crewman Ed Garvey said. Garvey said the sea was rough and an intensive care paramedic was winched down to assess the patient and prepare him to be airlifted to Taranaki Base Hospital for further treatment.