A man lay barely alive for almost three days after suffering a cardiac arrest and falling down stairs at his holiday home.

The 60-year-old was hypothermic and unconscious when he was discovered by local police at the bottom of 25 stairs in his holiday home in Hahei on Monday evening, but died despite efforts to save him.

Auckland's Westpac Rescue helicopter crew landed in Hahei to attend to a man in his 60s.

He had travelled from Auckland to the Coromandel Peninsula on Friday evening to get his bach ready for Christmas.

When he failed to turn up for work on Monday concerns were raised by the man's brother who contacted local police, says Auckland Rescue Helicopter Trust communications advisor Kerrie Spicer.

"His brother called police in Hahei and asked if they could go and check on him."

They found him at the bottom of the stairs in a critical condition.

The first of two rescue helicopter crews arrived at the Hahei property about 5.35pm Monday. The crew had been in nearby Whitianga waiting for the arrival of another patient in a moderate condition when they received the call.

After arriving in Hahei, the man's condition was upgraded to critical and a second rescue crew with an emergency doctor onboard was dispatched, says Kerrie.

The man was unconscious and cold with shallow breathing, she says.

He had also suffered both internal and external injuries from the fall and was dehydrated.

"He had been there for some time, it may have been since Friday night.

"Paramedics tried everything, they worked for about an hour doing CPR but he wasn't able to pull through."

The callout was one of 13 for two Auckland-based Westpac rescue helicopters in the last two days.

The same helicopter was called back to Hahei to pick up a woman who had been injured by a horse.

The woman, in her 70s, suffered a serious shoulder injury after being pushed over by a horse.

She was driven by road to Hahei where she was picked up by the rescue helicopter and flown to Waikato Hospital in a serious condition.