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The STARS have landed
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A firefighter guides the STARS helicopter in for a landing at Shaw’s Point Resort as part of a training exercise. Firefighters from Enilda, Grouard and High Prairie participated in the exercise.
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Flight nurse Karen Brown shows Matthias Young, 3, the equipment she uses. The helicopter, a Eurocopter BK-117, has room for two pilots, two flight nurses and a patient on a stretcher.
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Kelan Poulard, 6, liked being in the cockpit of the STARS helicopter and says he might be a pilot someday. He and his family came from Jasper for a holiday.
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Kerri Gardner, 9, is curious about the life size mannequin the STARS crew has for training. Greg Schmidt, a flight nurse, uses a computer to control it for scenarios such as bleeding and trauma.
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Mac Olsen
for South Peace News
One by one, firefighters took turns guiding a STARS helicopter in for a landing and/or directing it into the air.
It was part of an exercise the Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society held with the Enilda, Grouard and High Prairie fire departments at Shaw’s Point Resort Aug. 8. Each firefighter held a pair of orange-tipped flashlights to conduct one or two procedures: a hands-up, no-hazards landing approach and/or a wave off.
“We rely on the first responders to get us on the ground safely,” says Mark van Werkhoven, the outreach program leader for STARS in Grande Prairie. “It’s a team sport.”
He came to High Prairie in mid-July to hold training sessions with emergency medical services partners and police in the two procedures.
They also watched a video about STARS landing zone operations.
“We’re fortunate to have STARS in our area as a tool,” says High Prairie deputy fire chief Lynne Pardell.
“It was a really good way for us to experience the landing. Having Mark there with us was invaluable, as well as the other fire departments.”
It’s one more skill set for the firefighters and hands-on experience is always the way to go, Pardell adds.
Russell Cardinal of the Grouard Fire Department was one of the firefighters in the exercise.
Cardinal was a little nervous at the start, but says it was fun. He’s glad he’ll be able to handle the task in his community and thanks the M.D. of Big Lakes for the training opportunity.
The helicopter STARS uses is a Eurocopter BK-117 and has room for two pilots, two flight nurses and a patient on a stretcher.
It has a maximum cruising speed of 246 km/h or 133 knots and its maximum range is 540 km or 292 nautical miles.
The crew allowed the public to look around in the helicopter before flying to Joussard in the afternoon for another exercise.
The crew also had a life size mannequin to demonstrate many types of scenarios like trauma and bleeding. Greg Schmidt, a flight nurse, uses a computer to control the mannequin for those scenarios.
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