More Kiwi women pursuing careers on rescue helicopters

More women are finding their feet in high-flying careers with our rescue helicopters.

It's a career choice that used to be dominated by men, so much so when Michelle Maclean was starting out there weren't provisions for female toilets.

"It was simple things like the bathroom having sanitary areas for ladies that because it was a male dominated workforce they just didn't exist to start with," she told 1News.

"So it's just little things you take for granted."

Now, she's Auckland Westpac Rescue Helicopter's first Air Crew Officer.

"Our presence at the scenes is definitely noticed, I've had people come up to me and go 'ohhh! we didn't realise that there were so many women working on the helicopter'," she said.

It was growing up in the small rural community of Leigh, north of Auckland, she first knew she wanted to work with helicopters.

The nearest ambulance was at least half an hour away, and the trip to hospital even longer.

She talks of how minutes felt like hours as people needed help, and seeing that help arrive was something she wanted to be part of.

"And I still remember in primary school when the helicopters used to come and land on our school field, we'd all rush to the mesh fence and look through."

"We'd watch these, what looked like superheroes to us, the red helicopters blades were still spinning, and they walk out."

"I just remember being so inspired and it didn't faze me at all that all the people that were all in red were all men," she said.

In recent years, pilot Sue Dinkelacker has notched up more than 10,000 flying hours with Northland's rescue helicopter service.

"Ten thousand hours in itself is not unusual especially for airline pilots but in this industry flying rescue helicopters, they're oftne very short flights... we don't fly all day long like airline pilots do."

But over that time, she too has seen more and more women work in her field.

"We have women crew officers, medics and engineers at this operation," she said.

"I've never had any negative experience being a woman, I've actually used that as a point of difference."

"Sometimes, especially in the early days people would be surprised but once they got over their surprise they were my greatest supporters," she told 1News.

From a family of pilots, she says she's doing what she loves and following her passion.

"The universe conspires to assist you, and just amazing things happen, and here we are."

"One does feel as women you're representing your whole gender, one's got to work to a very high standard and high work ethic - but it's easy when it's something you love to do."

At the same base in Whangārei, another career is blossoming.

Psalm Blockley first came asking for work experience and is now working as an engineering apprentice.

"There's so much to learn and I've only been here a couple of months but it's quite cool to learn so much more and then understand how everything works together."

Eveyrthing working together is key to her work, keeping the complicated helicopters maintained and working.

It's work that's helping save lives.

"Honestly I still can't believe it, like it's just pretty crazy that I've been given this opportunity and I'm just real happy," she said.

At the Northland and Auckland rescue helicopter bases, almost 20% of frontline staff are women in roles like air crew officers, critical care paramedics, doctors and pilots.

That figure doesn't including the likes of engineers or fundraising staff.

A decade ago there were no female paramedics or air crew officers.

And now, 46% of doctors at the two rescue helicopter services are women.

In Auckland, Michelle Maclean said she always thought she would be one of the superheroes she saw as a child.

"I would say definitely pursue your career dreams, don't let typical stereotypes of male dominated professions stand in your way, I did it and you can too," she said.

Asked if she feels young girls might be looking at her through a fence as she used to look at helicopter rescue crew, she smiled as she replied: "I hope so, that'd be full circle."