Two trampers with allergies rescued

Two trampers have been flown to hospital by helicopter after suffering allergic reactions in separate incidents today.

A 28-year-old Wellington woman was flown out of the Orongorongos, east of Wellington, overnight by Westpac rescue helicopter crew using night vision goggles.

An emergency call was made at 12.30am after the woman staying in a hut was thought to be having an allergic reaction to something she had eaten.

With the aid of the night vision goggles, the helicopter crew was able to find a member of the tramping party who had made their way down to the river with a torch.

The helicopter landed on the river bank and treated the woman in the nearby hut before flying her to Wellington Hospital.

The Westpac rescue helicopter was called on again this afternoon, when a 62-year-old Palmerston North man was airlifted to hospital after reacting to wasp stings while tramping in the Wairarapa.

The helicopter, with a Wellington Free Ambulance paramedic onboard, responded to the call near Masterton at about 12.30pm today.

Information from other trampers in the area was used to find the man, who was being looked after by a small tramping party, near the Waingawa River on the edge of the Tararua Forest Park.

The helicopter was able to land in a small clearing near the patient, who was attended to by the paramedic before being flown to Masterton hospital, where he was being further assessed and treated.

- © Fairfax NZ News