Athabasca County councillors are still upset with the abrupt way Transport Canada informed them that STARS air ambulance could no longer land at the Athabasca Healthcare Centre, unless in extreme cases.
“It caught us by surprise,” Coun. Kevin Haines recalled. “One day we’re landing and one day we’re not. We’re still fighting. (It was) all of a sudden. No one told us and we got caught.”
Back in March, STARS was told they could no longer land at the Athabasca Hospital, because the helicopters were landing on an uncertified helipad — a grassy field next to the facility.
Under Transport Canada regulations, helicopters can only land at an undesignated helipad once.
Any more and the helicopter would be violating federal law — in 2014 alone, STARS landed 11 times at the hospital. But Athabasca County, hospital administration and STARS were all unaware of the rules.
After much confusion and miscommunication, it was decided that STARS could land at the Athabasca airport and transport patients the three kilometres to the hospital.
Almost seven months later, the issue came up once again in county chambers on Oct. 29 during a visit from a STARS representative.
Glenda Farnden, senior Municipal Relations liaison, had come to Athabasca to give the latest information on what STARS was doing in the area and for the County to consider donating $2 for every resident.
Naturally, the issue of the helipad came up.
Coun. Denis Willcott said he had often seen or heard the helicopters flying overhead near his home in Meanook.
Haines added that he spoke with representatives in Wabasca, who told him they had no problems with STARS landing at their hospital.
Although STARS had been landing at the hospital for years, Farnden said it was likely that spot was not designated because Athabasca was located in a “built-up” area. Trees, houses and tall buildings in Cornwall could interfere with landing and that’s why the helipad would need to be certified.
Some on council responded that they wished they had known about the certification requirements before all the developments in Cornwall took place.
Although there were still some concerns about transporting patients, Farnden assured that STARS does work closely with emergency personnel on the ground and in the hospital.
The helicopter is also equipped with universal blood for on-site emergency blood transfusions and staffed with transport physicians.
Over the last five years, STARS has landed in Athabasca County 275 times for both emergency landings and patient transfers.
The county also had the highest number of incidents, or missions, compared to neighbouring municipalities. In that five-year time frame, the municipality with the second-highest number of landings was Westlock County at 134.
“We’re seeing every year a six to 10 per cent increase in the number of missions,” Farnden said.
Given how frequently the emergency air ambulance is called on, reeve Doris Splane mentioned bringing STARS back to train the volunteer fire departments on how to direct helicopters to land safely during emergencies.
County council closed the meeting and said they would like to discuss things further and would be getting in touch with Farnden at a later date.
