EDMONTON – STARS has a new tool to help save lives. The non-profit organization unveiled a new helicopter Friday morning at its base at the Edmonton International Airport.
The crew is already impressed with the aircraft’s capabilities.
“The stuff this aircraft can do… I’ve been flying for 24 years, and this is amazing,” said pilot Jay McCallum.
“With this one, we’re now 25 per cent faster,” added McCallum. “We can fly at 278 kilometres an hour. So that’s quite an increase. So, it could take your an hour to get to the hospital, or 45 minutes to get to the hospital.”
The new AW139 helicopter was a big purchase for STARS.
“About six years of fundraising,” said Andrea Robertson, the organizations President and CEO. “Total price tag for one is about $16 million.”
It’s substantially larger than the version STARS crews are currently using.
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“There’s not a lot of other room there,” explained Sherry Brooks, a flight nurse. “So really the nurse has the ability to reach across and get access to the patient, but the paramedic is very much stationed in one spot. So this will definitely help.”
The new helicopter has the capacity to transport two patients at the same time.
“I think greater access to the patient will allow us to execute any of our procedures a little bit with better technique and will allow us to access patients better,” added Brooks.
The helicopter is the first of two new AW139 helicopters purchased by STARS for service in Alberta, with the second Calgary dedicated AW139 arriving in 2013.
“We’re going to do four flights per pilot and then the medical crews will be along themselves, orienting themselves, getting familiar with the back end. And we should be flying by February 2013,” said McCallum.
STARS is an emergency medical transport system for those who have been critically injured or are critically ill.
The organization was launched in 1985. It provides its services in B.C., Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba.
The organization relies on donations and funding from provincial governments.
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