Westpac chopper rescues three

THREE Victorian tourists have had lucky escapes in three separate incidents yesterday when they were winched to safety by the Westpac Rescue Helicopter.

The first incident occurred about 2.30pm  when the helicopter responded to reports of a seriously ill Victorian woman.

The 63-year-old woman was flown by helicopter to the Royal Hobart Hospital for treatment.

As the helicopter arrived at the hospital with the ill Victorian woman a PRB activation and reports of a woman with a broken ankle were simultaneously radioed to the chopper.

The Westpac Rescue Helicopter attended to the PRB activation first, which had been activated in the vicinity of the Farmhouse Creek track to Federation Peak.

A 48-year-old Victorian man and his walking companion were winched to safety after the man had suffered a serious leg injury.

The operation involved several winches and a Tasmania Police rescue crewman and an Ambulance Tasmania paramedic.

The man was then flown back to the helicopter base where he was driven to hospital.

Finally, the helicopter responded to reports of a woman with a broken ankle at Mt McCall.

By this time, night had fallen and considerably limited vision for the helicopter.

A 58-year-old Victorian woman was located approximately 50﻿ metres from the Franklin River in a deep gorge with a badly broken ankle.

Due to the use of night vision goggles a paramedic was winched to the scene on the edge of a cliff. 

The woman was then rescued and flown to the Royal Hobart Hospital.

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