New Zealand is a land of EXTREMES

From the treacherous alpine peaks of New Zealand’s tallest mountains, volcanoes and glaciers to the densely packed native bush where daylight seldom reaches the forest floor. From the windswept isolation of high country wilderness to the vast rolling plains, river valleys, flatlands and pastural farms, dotted with cities and towns, all the way along the rocky coastline battered by the wind and swells of the great Southern Ocean.

The paramedic crews and support teams of New Zealand’s Air Rescue and Air Ambulance services challenge these extremes of terrain, climate and operating conditions on a daily basis.

Nowhere is the diversity of this environment more evident than within a half-hour flight time of Christchurch, in the South Island - venue for the 22nd Scientific Meeting of the International Society of Aeromedical Services in 2010.