Trust chairman Ross Black presented the organisation's annual report to the Otago Regional Council, its major sponsor, yesterday.
Paramedic Doug Flett and primary pilot Greig Shirley outlined their day on July 11, the busiest day on record for the Otago Rescue Helicopter.
They flew 1932km and used 2074 litres of fuel.
It included six trips - four to the Wanaka area - one to Dunstan Hospital and one to Ranfurly, starting at 9.05am and ending back in Dunedin at 9.45pm.
They transported six patients with a variety of conditions, including a ski injury, acute abdominal pains and premature labour.
The most usual case of the day involved transporting the head of the neonatal unit and neonatal nurse to pick up an ill baby at Mt Barker, landing in a paddock before bringing them back to Dunedin, Mr Flett said.
All but one trip was done by "air one", with one trip being completed by the back-up helicopter with a second crew.
Mr Ross said the trust was very proud that 96c of every dollar earned or donated by the trust went directly to operating the service and crew safety training.
Less than 4% went on administration costs.
Hours flown increased by 4%, continuing a trend, one which was seeing the trust permanently contribute to having a second helicopter on standby, rather than paying by the hour, he said.
There was a "small financial shortfall" for the year of $14,318, partly due to increased hire costs of the second helicopter when two missions coincided, which would be funded from operational reserves, he said.
As the trust only received income from Government agencies when it flies a rescue mission, it relied on community support to cover the fixed costs of maintaining the service on 24-hour standby.
The Otago Regional Council donates $250,000 annually to the service and in the past year $213,404 was received from the community.
The majority of missions flown were for accidents, which was due to the nature of the region, the adventure tourism, four skifields and dangerous roads to Central Otago, he said.
