On the morning of Wednesday 30th November the Youth Town Rescue Helicopter was alerted to an incident where a young gentleman had fallen while descending the northern slopes of Mt Ngauruhoe.
Two RARO team members were required to assist the helicopter crew with the locating and the packaging of the patient. While en route from Whakapapa Village to Mt Ngauruhoe another call was received relating to a subsequent second gentleman who had sustained a head injury from a fall in a location about two thirds of the way up Mt Ngauruhoe.
Five RARO team members were put on standby to add support in event of changes in conditions and weather.
The crew of the Youth Town Rescue Helicopter located a gentleman with head lacerations and in a conscious but confused state. The two RARO members were dropped off by the helicopter and left with the task of packaging the first of the two injured men. The first of the two men were air lifted out while the RARO team walked down the mountain to locate the second person with the suspected leg injury.
The operation was completed by mid afternoon with the result of two men being flown to Rotorua hospital, one with head injuries and the other with a suspected broken fibula.