At 2:31 this afternoon, the crew of the Auckland and Coromandel Westpac Rescue Helicopter was tasked from their base in Whitianga to New Chums Beach to a near drowning accident.

A male patient in his 60s was pulled out of the water by other swimmers. The helicopter crew, consisting of pilot Rob Arrowsmith, crewman Ati Wynyard and flight paramedic Bruce Kerr, arrived at 2.37pm ( a response time of just six minutes) to treat the patient and transport him to Auckland City Hospital in a serious condition.