SASKATOON – Saskatchewan’s air ambulance service has added another airplane to its ranks.
“This will strengthen this important provincial program which, as you know, ensures all residents have rapid access to critical care,” said provincial health minister Eric Cline, who attended the announcement at the John G. Diefenbaker airport in Saskatoon.
The cost to buy, remodel and fit the Piper Cheyenne IIIA airplane with the necessary medical equipment was about $3 million. The amount will be taken from the $40 million in new health system funding announced last August.
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Saskatchewan now has two medically equipped air ambulances for province-wide emergency medical service. They are able to land on grass or gravel air strips longer than 2,500 feet.
There are 71 such airstrips in Saskatchewan.
“There’s 31 that are considered limited access airstrips,” said Peter Mayne of Saskatchewan Health. “There’s no instrument approach so you have to be able to see.”
Helicopter slower
He said planes are faster than helicopters and also have good safety records.
“According to the department of transport regulations, (helicopter landings) have to be done with a fully trained ground crew, landing zone, and all that sort of stuff and that’s simply not available in as many places as you can have an air strip,” said Mayne.
The air ambulance service is based in Saskatoon to match aircraft traffic.
“Most of the volume of the flying comes out of Saskatoon, there’s a lot of transports from the north,” said Mayne.
Premier Roy Romanow and Clay Serby, minister responsible for Saskatchewan property management corporation, were on hand for the announcement, which was made at the air ambulance’s 50th anniversary celebrations.
Each plane’s crew consists of a pilot, a flight nurse and often a paramedic or physician.
Nurses are contracted through Saskatoon’s St. Paul’s Hospital and the paramedic service through MD Ambulance.
Fly across North America
A plane can be dispatched within 30 minutes of a request to fly anywhere in North America to pick up patients. It will only pick up patients out-of-province when it costs less for them to be treated in Saskatchewan.
On average 12 to 16 flights outside of Saskatchewan are made per month.
The new plane is expected to begin missions early in 1997.
