ATMORE – The Wandering River Fire Department played host to a STARS Air Ambulance training night Feb. 13 at the Commercial Vehicle Enforcement Scale along Highway 63 in the Atmore area.
Forty-nine people from all the Athabasca County fire stations, along with vehicle inspection officers, bus drivers, Beaver Lake First Nation, as well as conservation officers received training on how to properly set up a landing zone for a STARS helicopter.
Newly promoted fire chief Gary Cromwell from the Wandering River Fire Department said the turnout was great.
“We gained a fantastic amount of information from STARS Air Ambulance,” Cromwell explained. “The theory portion inside the building went first, and then we all went outside to set up mock landing zones to get everybody used to the way we want to lay it out, how to space it out, what to look for and how to operate.”
He said this is the first year the Wandering River Fire Department has put it on.
“Other departments within Athabasca County have put it on every couple of years,” Cromwell said. “This is one of the biggest ones that we’ve had in the area. Even our instructor from STARS said it’s got one of the largest number of people involved in a session.”
STARS community education leader Jacques Coppens was the instructor for the training night. He said it’s amazing to see this many communities coming together.
“It just shows the support the people who live and travel in these communities have,” Coppens said. “We go out to the rural communities to help train and educate the local fire departments for when they need a helicopter to be ready and prepared.”
He added that fire departments are collaborating more and more when it comes to their training.
“We all know that it does not matter where the emergency is, everyone wants to help no matter where they are,” Coppens said. “Unfortunately, we were unable to bring any birds out today due to the weather conditions, but everything still went well.”
Town of Athabasca firefighter Allan Thompson served as the landing zone officer for the practical training outside.
“I loved the training. I think that STARS is a great organization that they can come out and interact with us,” Thompson said. “It gives us an opportunity to understand their operational concerns as well as our own so it’s really good when we can do interagency training.”
Sergeant Cole Riemer from the Atmore Commercial Vehicle Inspection Site said it was great to have the event hosted at this location.
“We are a centre hub for the emergency response agencies that surround us, including law enforcement and fire departments,” Riemer said. “I hope we could host more training here and get more agency interaction.”
He added everyone is there for a common goal.
“They were there to learn and to be proficient in how to set up a landing zone to land a helicopter when needed,” Riemer continued. “We have had lots of different accidents and fatalities on Highway 63, and it only shows the need for STARS’ services.”
Bryan Taylor, TownandCountryToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @BryanTaylorNews
