RACQ CQ Rescue has completed eight missions in just two days, flying more than 2300km across the region.
The busy weekend brings the total number of missions completed in the first nine days of the New Year to 18.
Two patients suffered life-threatening lacerations and blood loss in serious accidents late Sunday.
Crews were tasked about 6pm to meet Queensland Ambulance Service paramedics on the oval at Carmila after a 68-year-old man suffered serious gashes to his hand and jaw while working with an angle grinder.
The patient reported he was using a circular saw blade on an angle grinder to cut wood.
The tool ‘kicked back’ slicing both his hand and jaw, narrowly missing his neck.
He was treated, administered pain relief and transported to hospital in a stable condition.
At 10pm, the rescue chopper was sent to Hamilton Island to airlift a 60-year-old man who had lacerated his left thumb while filleting fish.
He sliced a chunk of flesh from the webbing of his hand between the thumb and forefinger and told the medical team had no feeling in his hand.
He was flown to Mackay arriving in a stable condition at midnight.
Earlier on Sunday, the Mackay-based chopper flew 270km to the new Pembroke mine sit Olive Downs, 40km south-east of Moranbah, to airlift a contractor who suffered a cardiac issue and required urgent hospital treatment.
RACQ CQ Rescue also flew more than 1100km on Saturday on four missions across the region.
Just after 9.30am crews assisted a 16-year-old girl who had dislocated her knee at the bottom of a walking track at Cape Hillsborough.
The teen was stranded on the beach with the tide coming in quickly.
Walking back up the track or along the rocky shoreline was impossible.
The chopper orbited the shoreline near Wedge Island several times before the decision was made to winch down a paramedic and rescue crewman onto the beach to secure the patient into a rescue harness.
The teenager was then winched up into the helicopter and flown directly to hospital in a stable condition.
Directly upon return to base about 11am, the helicopter crew was again tasked, this time offshore to Keswick Island after reports a swimmer had suffered a suspected Irukandji jellyfish sting.
About 1.45pm Saturday, the helicopter flew to Collinsville to airlift a man with a serious cardiac condition and also later transported a patient from Clermont to Mackay Base Hospital who suffered injury from a fall from height while he was removing Christmas decorations at his home.
RACQ CQ Rescue completed 638 missions in 2022, which is the second busiest year on record for the Mackay rescue helicopter service.
