Carrying personal locator beacons meant quick rescues for two people injured in two separate accidents in remote parts of the South this week.
A 67-year-old Dunedin woman was picked up by a helicopter after breaking an ankle in the Mount Aspiring National Park on Tuesday night.
She was picked up from the Siberia Valley by the Southern Lakes rescue helicopter just after 7pm after the Rescue Co-ordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) was able to arrange the rescue quickly because the group of over-60 trampers was carrying a personal locator beacon.
Earlier this week, a 24-year-old woman who also broke an ankle, was winched from Stewart Island. Her group also activated a personal locator beacon, highlighting the importance of carrying a beacon, RCCNZ search and rescue mission co-ordinator Geoff Lunt said.
Beacons could be bought or hired, and should also be registered so the RCCNZ could quickly reach emergency contacts, if required.
