Three people were taken to hospital after getting into trouble off the northern end of Tairua Beach in the Coromandel Peninsula yesterday afternoon.
SurfCom was alerted by police and ambulance to reports of three people screaming for help near the rocks outside the flags, more than 800m from the patrol area, just before 6pm.
Paid surf lifeguards from Tairua Beach immediately responded with rescue tubes and fins, and were supported by a rescue water craft (RWC) and guards from Pauanui Beach.
Surf Life Saving New Zealand (SLSNZ) said the lifeguards rescued two people from the water and returned them to shore.
The third person was able to get themselves to safety.
"Lifeguards provided first aid to all three patients on scene, with assistance from an ambulance first response unit," a SLSNZ spokesperson said.
They said Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ), police and ambulance also attended the scene.
"One patient was transported to hospital by helicopter (status 2), while the other two were transported by road ambulance (status 3)."
Status two meant there was a potential threat to life, while status three meant there was unlikely to be a threat to life.
SLSNZ urged people to keep up to date with information on patrols and beach conditions on Safeswim's website.
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