BARRHEAD - STARS Air Ambulance pilots are well-acquainted with Barrhead and its surrounding area, having flown over 200 missions to the region.
From 2010 to 2024, STARS air ambulance crews flew 238 missions in and out of the Barrhead region.
Not that the pilots need to know the area well, Shannon Pacquette, STARS air ambulance donor relations and development officer, told County of Barrhead councillors during their Aug. 19 meeting, as not only are STARS helicopter and medical crews among the best trained in the world, but they also have some of the most technologically advanced equipment in the industry and are constantly innovating.
"We were the first [air ambulance service] in North America to carry blood on board, starting with two units of whole blood, now increased to four units due to all the traumas we respond to," she said. "Now we carry Fibrinogen to help promote blood clotting."
STARS is a non-profit society, founded in Calgary in 1985, that provides air ambulance services to critically-ill patients in Alberta, as well as northeastern B.C., Saskatchewan and Manitoba. This year marks its 40th year in operation.
"STARS averages about 15 missions out of the Barrhead annually. That's an incredible number of patients and their families that we have an impact on," Pacquette said.
Of the 238 Barrhead missions between 2010 and 2024, the majority, 165, were inter-facility transfers from the Barrhead Healthcare Centre. Many of the patients Pacquette said were brought to the hospital by ground ambulance, for transport to facilities in Edmonton.
Another 64 were from regions near the Town of Barrhead, while five originated from the Neerlandia area, three from the Lac La Nonne region, and one from the Cherhill area.
Over the same period, 105 County of Barrhead residents directly benefited from STARS services.
Pacquette said while 85 were transported from Barrhead, 23 were picked up from 15 other regions in the province.
"It is a reminder that regardless of where [County of Barrhead] residents may travel in Western Canada, STARS is there for them," she said, adding the organization is borderless.
In Alberta, STARS operates three airbases, located in Calgary, Edmonton, and the most recent addition, Grande Prairie. It also has bases in Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and serves northeastern B.C. (via the Grande Prairie base).
"On average, STARS flies 11 missions per day, but that has gone up to as many as 18," she said.
Helping to coordinate those missions, Pacquette said, is STARS Emergency Link Centre, which it operates from its Calgary base.
The centre serves as a logistics hub, allowing them to provide critical care anywhere using any means necessary to deliver care to its patients, whether that is through the helicopter and fixed-wing air crews, or in partnership with local ground ambulance and rural hospital medical staff via STARS critical care transport physicians.
The latter, she said, is done through the GoodSAM app, which enables STARS and other specialty medical professionals to liaise directly with rural hospital staff in real-time using laptops, smartphones, and tablets.
"[All together] the Emergency Link Centre receives over 36,000 requests for service," Pacquette said.
Although STARS signed a new 10-year contract with the Alberta government last summer, guaranteeing them $15 million annually, she said, they still rely on the public, municipalities, and corporate donations to cover the roughly $34 million annual deficit.
Pacquette noted the STARS Lottery accounts for the largest area of donations, bringing in roughly $11 million annually, enough to cover the cost of one of its Alberta airbases.
The County of Barrhead contributes $7,500 annually.
Barry Kerton, TownandCountryToday.com
