Support sought for hospital helipad

Mac Olsen
South Peace News

The Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society (STARS) helicopter operating out of Grande Prairie makes a timely difference to critical patient care, say advocates. Andy Stewart and Glenda Farnden made presentations about the STARS service to the M.D. of Big Lakes council and the High Prairie town council March 26. They are seeking support for the construction of helipads at rural hospitals in the region so they can be interlinked with the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Grande Prairie. Stewart, the general manager for the Alberta Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society in Grande Prairie, explains helipads have been established at rural hospitals in central and southern Alberta, and he would like them in this area. “Having them up in the Peace Region will save time in each case for those particularly critical patients,” says Stewart. “With the new hospital in High Prairie, (there’s) an excellent opportunity to build a ground-level helipad.” A ground-level heli- pad is part of the plan for the new hospital. Farnden, who is the major gifts manager for the Alberta Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service Foundation in Grande Prairie, says money can be provided for the construction of a helipad through her organization’s Chain of Survival Funds. Since 2000, it has provided $44,226.44 to groups in High Prairie and the area for things like training or equipment purchases. But Stewart and Farnden want an interim helipad established in a field at St. Andrew’s School, because it would be located right across the street from the High Prairie Health Complex. “We’re certainly wanting to work with the principal at the school, and make all the proper components come into place,” says Farnden. She also provided statistics regarding High Prairie’s utilization of the STARS service since it began operating on Nov. 1, 2006. Out of a total of 30 calls, 12 were scene calls (five motor vehicle accidents, one remote industrial site incident, one recreational vehicle incident, two medical incidents and three pre-alerts) and the others were for critical care patient transfers. The STARS helicopter costs $3,000 per hour to operate, with two-hour missions being typical. The human resource costs include two pilots, an advanced life support paramedic and three referral emergency physicians. Communications centres in Calgary and Peace River are also part of the costs. “You put that altogether with just the care and feeding of a helicopter, (and) keeping it in the hanger, it all starts to add up,” says Stewart. Some of the costs are covered through things like a lottery, calendar sales, community events and industry support. Mayor Rick Dumont says STARS is a really outstanding service, and he will work with them for the proposed temporary helipad for St. Andrew’s School. He also says it’s important for the Town of High Prairie, the M.D. of Big Lakes and other communities in the area to support STARS’s bid to establish helipads in this area. “It’s important that the M.D. of Big Lakes, the Town of High Prairie and all the settlements and reserves band together to support the STARS helipad, because we all use it,” says Dumont.

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