New rescue choppers hit northern NSW skies

Just hours after a new rescue helicopter service was launched one of four new choppers was called out to its first job in the NSW Hunter region.

The life-saving search and rescue aircraft was one of four AgustaWestland AW139 helicopters officially launched by Health Minister Brad Hazzard in Lismore on Friday morning.

By midday the service had received a call about a motorcyclist who had hit a tree in Abernethy.

The new chopper landed in a nearby oval on its inaugural mission a short time later, and the 35-year-old man was flown to John Hunter Hospital with suspected fractures to his leg and pelvis, a Westpac Rescue spokesman said.

'The Service' is a joint partnership between the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service and the NSW Ambulance, and operates 24/7 from Sydney's Hawkesbury River to the Queensland border.

Westpac Service chief executive Richard Jones says the new aircraft are a step up in capability.

This was enhanced by the "outstanding team of pilots, crew, doctors and paramedics" aboard each flight, Mr Jones said.

The Rescue Helicopter was first established as a weekend beach patrol in 1975.