ATHABASCA - A request for $8,000 to help keep STARS Air Ambulance in the sky and on the scene of remote and/or serious medical emergencies will be one of the many considerations before Athabasca County councillors when they sit down to hash out a budget for 2021 in the coming weeks.
At their Nov. 26 meeting, councillors heard a presentation from STARS senior municipal relations liaison Glenda Farnden, who provided an annual update, and made a pitch for the county’s continued support.
Much like everyone else, STARS has had a challenging 2020 due to COVID-19. Farnden called it a year like no other, and noted the non-profit air ambulance organization is also dealing with a funding shortfall as a result.
“These are stressful times and we continue to see a rise in stress-related types of missions, like heart attacks, stroke, drug overdose and COVID-related. Approximately 13 per cent of STARS missions are COVID-related,” said Farnden.
“During these challenging times we recognize that our municipalities are facing countless hardships, which is magnified by the fact that there are many who rely upon you for help, including STARS. STARS is experiencing a significant decrease in funding in all areas including government.”
Fundraising efforts like the annual STARS Lottery, which usually sells out, did not in 2020.
“That reflects $1.2 million in lost revenue, and the Calendar Campaign is down by more than half this year,” said Farnden. “With COVID-19 still looming around us, most of STARS fundraising events have all been cancelled for the foreseeable future. This means several more million dollars in lost revenue.”
All this as aviation expenditures continue to rise and the number of missions grows.
STARS is also in the midst of replacing its aging fleet of helicopters with state-of the art Airbus H145s, which are essentially flying intensive care units. The new helicopters are equipped with portable ultrasound machines, which helps quickly detect collapsed lungs, internal trauma and bleeding and heart abnormalities — often saving lives before patients arrive at a hospital.
The new helicopters also include advanced avionics and an additional 30 minutes of flight time over the older model.
Athabasca County has been a partner with STARS since 2008, contributing $8,000 year over year since then. Since 2016, STARS has completed 119 missions within the county, ranging from inter-facility transfers to serious motor vehicle, agriculture and other accidents.
“We are truly grateful to our municipal partners like you,” Farnden told council. “You represent the one area of support that has remained steadfast and unwavering. You continue to be a lifeline for STARS and we thank you.”
Afterwards, councillors agreed it was indeed a worthy and necessary cause to contribute to, but would have to take the ask to budget meetings to make a final decision.
“I think we donate to a lot of people and help them out with a lot of stuff,” said Coun. Dennis Willcott. “If there is any way in our budget that we can do it, I’m all for it … Any way we can scrimp or steal, we should do it, because this helps everybody in the county and all ratepayers.”
Coun. Christi Bilsky agreed and called for a motion to defer the decision on the request to budget deliberations.
“It’s a very valuable service they provide, but I’d still like to discuss in our budget when we have a full picture of all our money,” she said.
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