STARS Air Ambulance’s donor-funded AgustaWestland AW139 helicopters are big birds that require big nests.
The Province is getting ready to upgrade priority helipads over the next two years to accommodate the 6,800-kilogram emergency aircraft, with Banff Mineral Springs Hospital making the cut to be one of the first sites upgraded.
“Alberta Health Services (AHS) is currently preparing to tender to secure a heliport design consultant for the Banff site,” AHS senior media advisor Bruce Conway said. “It is expected that the design will be completed and construction work will go to tender by the fall of 2014, with anticipated completion in the spring of 2015.
“AHS has received $25 million from the provincial government for helipad upgrades over the next three years. Upgrades are being made to 13 sites, on a priority basis. The Banff site is included on that list,” Conway said.
“We’re very pleased that we are listed as a priority site to rebuild our heliport so it meets the need of the infrastructure requirements for the new choppers,” said Cindy Mulherin, senior director of operations, rural acute care at Covenant Health, Banff Mineral Springs Hospital. “It’s imperative they (STARS) be able to land here. In the meantime, the other helicopters they have will meet our needs until the heliport is rebuilt.”
In locations where helipads require upgrading for the AW139, or where there are no helipads, STARS will continue to respond to those communities with the existing BK117 helicopters when needed, or land the AW139 at the nearest local airport or predetermined alternate landing site.
“We have the third highest number of referrals of critically ill patients to the Foothills Medical Centre behind Red Deer and Lethbridge, so we do transport a significant number of patients to the city,” Mulherin said. “They don’t all go by air, but we use STARS Air Ambulance anywhere from 16 to 20 times a year.”
Conway added sites not scheduled for immediate remediation will be assessed on a regular basis and will be upgraded based on need and as funding sources are confirmed.
“We’ll have both (BK 117 and AW139) at our Calgary base,” said STARS spokesperson Cam Heke. “Forty per cent of our flights are direct to the scene of a medical emergency, so we’re not even landing on a helipad. In those situations, we’ll still move forward with the AW139, because they’re considerably faster, have de-icing capabilities and larger space to deal with patients. In Alberta we have about 80 (helipads) across the province, but as you can imagine when we started out there were very few – it’s always been the chicken and the egg scenario.”
STARS currently have two AW139 helicopters: one stationed in Edmonton and one in Calgary.
