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Northland's air ambulance service is already tracking for the busiest January in its history after taking off with a whirr since the New Year.
Northland Emergency Services Trust chairman John Bain said the Northland Electricity rescue helicopter had its first job in the early hours of New Year's day and had been "flat out" since.
At 3am the team was called to a medical job at Mokau.
Then at 6am the Sikorsky chopper flew out to Cape Colville to retrieve a patient who had been stabbed, flying back to Auckland Hospital.
By 11am the crew were attending to a patient with a serious head injury after an accident. The victim was then taken from Kaitaia Hospital to Whangarei Hospital.
Two hours later they took a person with severe asthma from Bay of Islands Hospital to Whangarei Hospital, later transferring the patient to Auckland Hospital.
At 7pm they attended a road accident at Whananaki and took an injured person to Whangarei Hospital.
"The day had been long and hard. Then on the second (of January) we had about three jobs and four on the third," Mr Bain said. "Every month last year - bar December, which was four hours down - was well above our normal tally.
"Last January was the busiest we've ever had and on a daily basis we've already passed that number of hours flown already."
Meanwhile, Mr Bain said NEST's second S76 Sikorsky chopper had arrived in New Zealand from Baltimore, USA, where it had been bought for US$1.65million (NZ$2.44m).
It was currently being refitted at Ardmore and getting its certificate of air worthiness.
The chopper - bought with help from a $360,000 grant from the Lion Foundation - is expected to be in Northland by mid January and operational by mid-February as the Lion Foundation Air Ambulance.
"We're having the leather seats and the bar taken out and the stretchers and oxygen kits put in," Mr Bain said.
"It will relieve a lot of the pressure on us - the only pressure will be financial." While part of the cost had been taken up the Lion Foundation there was still a huge call on the people of Northland to help maintain the service.
By Rochelle Long
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