SASKATOON – Many patients in Saskatchewan benefit when Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society (STARS) can reach and retrieve them; however, that’s not always the case.
Last Saturday, STARS officials say they had to decline a dispatch call to Rosetown, Sask. where six people were being treated for injuries after a single vehicle rollover due to weather conditions.
In 2013, STARS aircrafts responded to 855 missions in over 253 Saskatchewan communities.
The number of calls declined could not be confirmed.
In the majority of communities, STARS has designated ‘landing zones,’ but has the capability to land on highways, dirt roads and other remote locations; however, the ‘weather factor’ can’t be controlled.
“The first thing that we do when we are dispatched for a call is the pilots go and they check the weather and sometimes when we do get a scene call, where the call is actually coming out from, the weather could be good but the weather might not be as good where the base is being dispatched,” said Bonnie Monteith, STARS communications lead.
“Typically and most commonly the weather that would prevent us from actually attending a call would be freezing rain or a severe thunderstorm.”
The only other time STARS would stand down from a call is if crews are told en route they are no longer required.
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