HALO takes on an average of 30 transports each year, part of a larger web of air ambulance services in southeast Alberta,--SUBMITTED PHOTO COURTESY MARK MENNIE
gslade@medicinehatnews.com@MHNGillianSlade
Alberta’s ambulances in the sky include fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters, and the decision about which to dispatch comes down to the needs of the patient, says Alberta Health Services.
The location of an injured patient, such as the scene of an accident, and the type of injury would influence the decision on whether EMS sends a helicopter or a ground ambulance for transfer to a fixed-wing air ambulance. In some cases a ground ambulance could attend the scene and take the patient to the nearest airport then transfer the patient into a fixed-wing air ambulance, said Darren Sandbeck, chief paramedic for AHS EMS.
Of 11 fixed-wing air ambulances at 10 locations across Alberta, one is in Medicine Hat and the contracted operator is CanWest Air. They transported about 943 patients in the last fiscal year.
Across the province about 8,000 patients are transported each year in fixed-wing air ambulances with 25 per cent being “urgent” calls. In some cases patients are transported from a rural area hospital to one in Calgary or Edmonton for specialized treatment. A ground ambulance takes them from the hospital to the airport, they’re transferred to the aircraft and flown to Calgary where they are taken by ground ambulance from the airport to the hospital.
Sandbeck says fixed-wing air ambulances are best suited for transports that take longer than 2.5 hours in one direction for a ground ambulance or when the patient needs critical care that is not available by ground ambulance. The medical crew dedicated to fixed-wing aircraft specialize in managing clinically complex patients with two advanced care paramedics.
In 2010, air ambulances became part of Alberta’s integrated health-care system, managed and operated under AHS EMS.
Air ambulance resources are co-ordinated by AHS EMS provincial communications dispatch centres. The province’s funding for fixed-wing air ambulances is $53 million a year.
Across the province there are five helicopter air ambulances.
STARS has three, one each in Grande Prairie, Edmonton and Calgary. STARS receives $6.8 million in government funding
STARS responded to nine cases in the Medicine Hat area in the last fiscal year and about 1,200 across the province, handling urgent scene responses and clinically complex inter facility patient transfers from rural Alberta hospitals.
Sandbeck says STARS has an internationally recognized air ambulance accreditation.
There are two dedicated air ambulance helicopters staffed with on-duty ground ambulance paramedics, who provide patient care equal to a ground ambulance, said Sandbeck.
One of these is based in Fort McMurray and operated by HERO and the other in Medicine Hat by HALO
HERO transports about 40 patients each year and receives $1 million a year in government funding.
In the last fiscal year HALO transported 27, close to its average of 30 each year, said Sandbeck.
HALO does not receive government funding, other than a one-time grant of $1 million under the NDP government. It was paid about $140,000 for specific flights it was dispatched on in the last fiscal year, said Sandbeck.
Not all inter-facility patient transfers, even from Medicine Hat to Calgary, are done by air. Ground ambulances handle some. Over the last fiscal year they transported nearly 3,000 patients between AHS facilities, said Sandbeck.
