Paramedics preparing to winch down to the hikers
There was a lot of chopper activity over the Barrington Tops on the weekend with a hiker needing to be airlifted out of remote bushland.
He had been hiking for over five hours with six other bushwalkers on Saturday afternoon when he began experiencing chest pains.
The Toll Ambulance Rescue helicopter was sent in to retrieve the man, with a medical team winching him out. He was flown to Newcastle Airport at Williamtown before being transferred to hospital.
A cache of food, water and shelter was left for the rest of the group. They would later be met by a pair of Special Operations Paramedics who arrived at the site on foot around 3.30am on Sunday.
Forecasts of extreme heat on Sunday made the five hour walk back to civilization too dangerous for the remaining hikers and two paramedics, so the call was made to airlift them back instead.
The Westpac Rescue helicopter was dispatched to the Barringtons for the task, conducting 13 winch operations and finally wrapping up the prolonged rescue at about 1pm.
