Jenny Thorpe and Matt Hogan will represent STARS air ambulance—and Saskatchewan—at an international competition held in Phoenix, Ariz.
Two of Saskatoon’s top emergency responders will compete at the Association of Air Medical Services’ 2018 Sim Cup from Oct. 22 to 23.
To earn their spot in the annual competition, they had to beat their colleagues at the Saskatoon STARS base before triumphing over the best pairs from the rest of the organization in Western Canada.
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Thorpe and Matt Hogan are the first Saskatoon team to represent the helicopter EMS service.
The competition utilizes the latest in patient simulation and features 12 teams competing head-to-head to showcase their real-time skills. Like the nature of their everyday work, the competitors have no idea what type of emergency medical cases they’ll encounter.
“We have been consistently practicing since April, and we try to improve during every training session,” flight paramedic Matt Hogan said in a press release.
“We make an effort to focus on our communications and our ability to manage our patient when we are busy and cognitively overloaded.”
Flight nurse Jenny Thorpe predicts the intense competition will ultimately translate into better outcomes for STARS’ patients.
“My hope is that this experience will make me a better nurse to my patients and better crew member to my colleagues,” Thorpe said in a press release.
“Having exposure to these extreme cases makes us better prepared to manage them on an actual mission.”
STARS provides transportation for critically ill and injured patients, from bases in Calgary, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Regina, Saskatoon and Winnipeg.
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