WESTLOCK – Westlock County has been asked to increase its annual donation to STARS Air Ambulance by $5,000, to bring it closer to the $2 per capital the “majority of municipalities” provide.
At Westlock County’s June 20 committee of the whole meeting, STARS senior municipal relations liaison Glenda Farnden spent roughly 20 minutes talking about the work the organization does, its funding, the number of missions flown to the Westlock area and ended by asking the municipality to increase its annual contribution from $10,000 to $15,000. The county has contributed to STARS since 2000, while from 2019 to 2021, the municipality contributed $1 per capita, which equated to $7,220 annually, then jumped to a flat donation of $10K which Farnden said, they “appreciate.”
“That would join you with the majority of all of the municipalities across Alberta who are giving a minimum of $2-per capita,” she said, noting Sturgeon County has recently become a contributor. “We have rising fuel costs, we have rising medical supply costs … it’s never ending. We continue to appreciate all of our partners to ensure that a life is saved every day and it’s these partnerships that make it possible.”
Reeve Christine Wiese said they’re “pretty proud that we’re a partner” but they wouldn’t decide on the increase that day and would need to deliberate further. Up to the end of May 2023, STARS has flown 12 critical inter-facility transfers missions to and from the Westlock Healthcare Centre and have averaged 20 missions a year from 2018 to 2023 across the county with landings near Vimy, Busby, Dapp and Fawcett and Jarvie.
Farnden’s presentation also noted that since 2010, there’s been 154 Westlock-area residents transported by STARS from locations outside the area to hospitals, while there’s been 524 missions flown over the last five years including Westlock County, the County of Barrhead, Thorhild County, Sturgeon County, Athabasca County, the MD of Lesser Slave River, and Woodlands County. For context, Farnden noted each mission costs roughly $10,000.
“These contributions are making differences across the province and other provinces. It’s wonderful to be able to see the good work these dollars are doing,” said Wiese. “We hear you and we appreciate you. Most of us, unfortunately, have first-hand had to use your services.”
STARS, which is a non-profit charitable organization founded in 1985, has flown more than 50,000 missions, while the Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service Foundation (STARS Foundation) is the fundraising arm which provides 80 per cent of the revenue.
Funding needs are met through private donations, service groups, businesses, corporations, and affiliation agreements with provincial and municipal governments, which pitch in roughly $2 million annually, while its lotteries in Alberta and Saskatchewan are the “single largest funding source” for the organization.
Farnden said most urban municipalities contribute $2 per capita to STARS, while rural municipal funding ranges from $2 to $90 per capita, while many, like Westlock County “have moved to a fixed rate.” As it currently stands, the only other area municipalities that don’t contribute to STARS include the MD of Lesser Slave River and Lac La Biche County.
Farnden said Alberta Health Services provides $15 million, which is about half its operational costs of around $30 to run its three bases, which is close to what the Saskatchewan and Manitoba governments provide. She also said they are currently negotiating with AHS for a new 10-year service agreement — following the end of a 10-year agreement in 2020, the province and STARS have only signed one-year agreements.
Farnden also noted that what STARS provides is not just air transportation from trauma scenes or rural hospitals to facilities with more treatment tools but what amounts to a complete, flying intensive care unit.
She outlined a host of specialized equipment each helicopter carries, including a video laryngoscope, a handheld ultrasound unit and an EZIO drill for quick administration of difficult IVs, along with a large complement of medications including thrombolytics for stroke victims as well as two universal blood units for transfusions.
Farnden noted that along with the advanced medical equipment, STARS also has specialized medical teams, including physicians at its Calgary link centre, that oversee missions and talk to the medical personnel on the scene, and trauma doctors that fly on up to 20 per cent of all flights, especially those to rural hospitals, along with world-class EMTs and pilots who consistently place in the Top 3 in the Air Medical Transport Conference SIM Cup competition.
