The on-duty crews for the Waikato Westpac Rescue Helicopter had a full-on weekend completing a total of five missions within a 20 hour period.

Within the 20 hour period, they ticked up nine hours of flying time.

This was on the back of three missions completed on Friday. This has been one of the bigger weekends to date for the Waikato Westpac Rescue Helicopter, says a spokesperson for the rescue helicopter.

At 8.30am the crew attended a medical event in Kawhia. The Waikato Westpac Rescue Helicopter flew the patient to Waikato Hospital.

Shortly after at 9.30am, the crew was tasked to retrieve a maternity patient from Gisborne Hospital. The woman was flown to Waikato Hospital.

"In the early afternoon, the Waikato Westpac Rescue Helicopter was dispatched to Coromandel township for a young child who was suffering from a medical event.

"Later in the night, the crew completed a final mission to retrieve a patient from Rotorua Hospital. they were flown to Auckland Hospital for further treatment.

"In the early hours of Sunday morning, the crew was again tasked to Rotorua to transfer a patient back to Waikato Hospital."