Horizons

CELEBRATING THE PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE OF THE ALBERTA SHOCK TRAUMA AIR RESCUE SOCIETY

RAPID RESPONSE Experience a day in the life at STARS

FALL/WINTER 2010

STARS PATIENTS

Victim-turned-volunteer Jason MacLeod and others relive their stories

PLUS: The mission teams, fundraisers, volunteers, partnerships and communities that pulled together to make 25 years possible

PM #40069284

WHERE ENERGY MEETS CARE Enbridge supports STARS to help keep our communities safe.

We are helping the Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society (STARS) acquire new long-range helicopters in Alberta as part of our Safe Community program.

Established in 2008, the program helps first responders obtain the resources and training they need, acquire safety equipment, deliver safety training programs and host volunteer recognition programs. We are also fostering health and safety in our communities through our donations, and our participation in the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer, which benefits the Alberta Cancer Foundation.

Focusing our energy on health and safety is just one of the ways we deliver on our promise to help build sustainable communities.

Visit enbridge.com/InYourCommunity to learn more.

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MESSAGES Welcome and thank you from STARS President and CEO Dr. Greg Powell, STARS Board Chairs and Enbridge President and CEO Patrick Daniel

THE MINUTES THAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE Joanne Gordon recounts the 2009 rescue of her husband

REMEMBERING YESTERDAY 7 GETTING STARS INTO THE SKY A small band of people sharing a vision refuse to let obstacles stand in the way of saving lives

10 CHAMPIONS OF FUNDRAISING Twenty-five years of grassroots support prove instrumental to STARS’ success

14 DONORS GIVE THANKS Profiling our donors and their continued contributions

18 SOARING INTO EDMONTON A dedicated team of volunteers guides the STARS Edmonton base through its infancy

22 BUILDING THE PILLARS A focus on finding the patient and educating the providers

28 FOUNDATION OF A NORTHERN BASE Support for a Grande Prairie base draws a rapid response from community members

ABOUT THE PATIENTS 16 A CLOSE BOND AFTER 25 YEARS Checking in with STARS’ first patient

20 A NEW OUTLOOK ON LIFE After a tumultuous turn following his ATV accident, Brian McPherson receives a new lease on life

26 THE JOURNEY FROM VICTIM TO VOLUNTEER Jason MacLeod says thanks by giving back www.stars.ca

38 READY OR NOT, HERE THEY COME The STARS team makes a special delivery for this mother of triplets

EMBRACING TODAY 32 ALL IN A DAY’S WORK Follow the STARS crew as daily duties call

37 THE ROLE OF A STARS REP These physicians take on-call to a new level

41 ONE MILLION REASONS Talisman Energy and ARC Resources reach impressive milestones in giving

42 PERFECTING THE PARTNERSHIPS STARS relies on the strong links in the chain of survival and community

43 ALL IN THE FAMILY STARS’ unique culture extends across Alberta

REACHING FOR TOMORROW 46 TOMORROW’S TECHNOLOGY Technological advancements have helped STARS save lives – but the best is yet to come

48 FUNDING FOR THE FUTURE Technology connects STARS with new donors, but grassroots support remains a part of its continued success

50 A TEAM EFFORT The STARS team takes us step by step through a call

STARS

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CONGRATULATIONS from Patrick Daniel, President and CEO, Enbridge Inc.

O

PATRICK DANIEL, President and CEO, Enbridge Inc.

N BEHALF OF ENBRIDGE’s nearly 6,500 employ- key components in building sustainable communities. ees, I extend my sincere congratulations to STARS That’s why we are proud of our long partnership on the occasion of its 25th anniversary. with STARS, which extends back nearly 15 years, and For a quarter century, the Shock Trauma Air Res- why we are pleased to provide funding that will help cue Society has had a tremendously positive impact to add two new high-technology helicopters to the on public safety and access to rapid medical response STARS fleet. The new AW139 helicopters will be able across Alberta. to fly faster and farther At Enbridge we know how WE ARE PROUD OF OUR LONG than the current fleet of five important STARS is to peoBK117 aircraft, and provide ple throughout the province, PARTNERSHIP WITH STARS, WHICH critical care and medical providing vital trauma and EXTENDS BACK NEARLY 15 YEARS. WE transport to two patients emergency medical response at once. service to rural commun- ARE PLEASED TO PROVIDE FUNDING Enbridge is proud of ities and remote locations THAT WILL HELP TO ADD TWO NEW our role in helping to make across Alberta 24 hours a day, Alberta safer through HIGH-TECHNOLOGY HELICOPTERS TO our ongoing support of every day.

Safety is at the heart of THE STARS FLEET. STARS operations, our Enbridge’s operations. Our participation on the boards Safe Community program highlights this commitment of the STARS Society and Foundation, and our partby providing funding support to first responders – police, nership with STARS to help expand its capacity and fire and emergency medical services – for training, safety service with the acquisition of its new long-range equipment and education in the communities along our helicopters. rights-of-way.

As it has for the past 25 years, STARS continues to build Enbridge’s operations extend throughout Alberta on the world-class emergency medical service it provides and across North America, so we understand the vital to Alberta’s citizens and visitors. importance of emergency medical response in remote Congratulations to STARS on 25 years of lifesaving locations. We also know that public health and safety are service to Alberta and eastern British Columbia.

Direct comments, inquiries and letters to:

Venture Publishing Inc.

STARS Communications 1441 Aviation Park N.E. Box 570, Calgary, Alberta T2E 8M7

Ruth Kelly Publisher

Telephone: (403) 516-4819 Fax: (403) 274-9569 Email: newsletter@stars.ca Website: www.stars.ca STARS, STARS and Design (logo) STARS Emergency Link Centre, THE STARS CENTRE, STARBEAR, STAR-1, STAR-2, STAR-3, STAR-4, STAR-5 and STARS & SPURS Gala are registered Canadian trademarks owned by Alberta Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society. The Alberta Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service Foundation is a licensed user of STARS, STARBEAR, and STARS and Design (logo) STARS Aviation Canada Inc. is a licensed User of STARS, STARS and Design (logo) STAR-1, STAR-2, STAR-3, STAR-4 and STAR-5.

Alberta Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society Editorial Advisory Team: Bart Goemans, Dr. Greg Powell, Linda Powell, Leanne Rekiel Leanne Rekiel PROJECT LEAD

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STARS

Joyce Byrne Associate Publisher Emily Senger, Stephanie Sparks Managing Editors

Contributing Writers: Anh Chu, Caitlin Crawshaw, Dawna Freeman, Kristiana Indradat, Geoff Morgan, Mifi Purvis, Tricia Radison, Lisa Ricciotti, Shannon Sutherland, Jim Veenbaas Contributing Photographers: Chris Beauchamp, John Gaucher, Mark Mennie, Steve Nagy, Joey Podlubny, Mike Ridewood

Charles Burke Art Director Betty-Lou Smith Production Coordinator

Cert no. SW-COC-000952

Nick Jamison, Jennifer King Distribution RETURN ALL UNDELIVERED MAIL TO:

VENTURE PUBLISHING INC.

STARS Communications 1441 Aviation Park N.E. Box 570, Calgary, Alberta T2E 8M7 LMCNEILL@STARS.CA Publications MAIL Agreement #40069284

10259-105 Street, Edmonton, AB T5J 1E3 Tel: 780-990-0839 Fax: 780-425-4921

Printed in Canada by TransContinental LGM Graphics Content may not be reprinted or reproduced without permission from the Alberta Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society (STARS)

Horizons is published for the Alberta Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society by:

HORIZONS

WELCOME

STARS President and CEO Dr. Greg Powell

S

DR. GREG POWELL, STARS President and CEO

www.stars.ca

TARS IS CELEBRATING its 25th anniversary this year. Relationships, people and the commitment to respond to the needs of the critically ill and injured are the foundation of this journey from a dream and vision to reality. Twenty-five years of history is captured here in the stories of people, places, teamwork, helicopter air medical transport and 20,000 missions.

It doesn’t seem that long ago when a focus of providing airborne intensive care through helicopter emergency services was born in Alberta. Now, serving 94 per cent of Alberta’s population and reaching into eastern British Columbia, we have the opportunity to reflect on where we have been, what we have accomplished together and what the future holds. It is so important to retain and celebrate our roots, and acknowledge the people who founded, built and sustained the vision, and those now moving the STARS TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF HISTORY organization into the future.

I often reminisce personally IS CAPTURED HERE IN THE STORIES and with family, friends and col- OF PEOPLE, PLACES, TEAMWORK, leagues, about our early days of humble beginnings, character- HELICOPTER AIR MEDICAL ized by a commitment and a TRANSPORT AND 20,000 persistence to make something happen – to make a difference. MISSIONS. Unnecessary disability and death were emotional catalysts to a group of people with a mission to create a better place. Many of those who gave up job security, personal time and a predictable future are still with us today, infusing that passion and commitment to the mission.

Today, a very proud, highly trained, professional, multicultural and geographically dispersed group of people drive the programs that provide emergency medical communications, critical medical care and transport, educate health care providers and citizens and engage community involvement. Many volunteers from all walks of life passionately support the staff efforts that continue to drive the mission.

We are excited and grateful to have this opportunity to talk about the past and the present as we unfold our plans for the future. The next chapters in our history will include the same compelling dedication of our staff and volunteers, as well as the acquisition of knowledge and deployment of innovative solutions using more advanced technology in medical care, treatment and transport.

STARS does not do any of this alone. The search for excellence and the professionalism we are able to bring to the mission is a result of working with many partners in health, aviation, community and government.

Over the past 25 years, many individuals have provided support, at times crucial to survival, and at other times to help us grow. Many are mentioned or profiled in the pages that follow, and while it is impossible to include everyone, we do thank all of you.

From all of us at STARS, a profound thank you to the community and our partners.

The unique talents, support, interest, involvement and sacrifices of many have set an example and created a culture and a health safety net that is innovative and unique.

As a great colleague of mine has said, “It’s about the patient.”

And it is about making a difference.

STARS 5

THANKS TO YOU… STARS and STARS Foundation Board Chairs

I ALLAN R. BUCHIGNANI, Board Chair, STARS

DAVID MOWAT, Board Chair, STARS Foundation

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STARS

T IS WITH GREAT PRIDE AND HUMILITY that we ambassadorship and are proud to lead in the area of bring greetings and appreciation from our Society not-for-profit, voluntary sector governance. and Foundation boards of directors to you, the comThe key sustaining element of an organization is its munity, for the strong support for STARS over the past culture with a strong vision and purpose. The care of 25 years. This year, 2010, marks a very significant mile- the critically ill and injured is this singular purpose. stone in STARS history and is also the launching pad Grassroots support from the rural communities has into the future. been a driving force and the We have each seen the THE KEY SUSTAINING ELEMENT many fundraising events held focus and singular dedicathroughout Alberta and Brittion of our volunteers, our OF AN ORGANIZATION IS ITS ish Columbia continually crews, our staff and the ru- CULTURE WITH A STRONG VISION ground us to our role in the ral and corporate roots of health safety net. Golf tourAlberta and eastern British AND PURPOSE. THE CARE OF THE naments, trail rides, dinners, Columbia to ensure that a CRITICALLY ILL AND INJURED IS auctions and casinos are made highly responsive, critical possible by the creative ideas care air medical system is in THIS SINGULAR PURPOSE. and endeavours of hundreds place. No entity accomplishes of volunteers. It is humbling this alone – especially with the complexity of critical to see the magnitude of support. care medicine, sophisticated emergency communiOur partnerships with the community, governcations, aviation and the need for very highly trained ment, the corporate sector and each individual donor care providers. are solid bonds. We are proud and honoured to be a In the early days, board directors were involved in part of STARS – and sincerely thank you for your part the day-to-day development and nurturing of a fledg- in meeting the needs of the “red patient” – the critiling charitable organization. The STARS and STARS cally ill and injured.

Foundation boards of directors have embraced best Your support is essential and truly recognized. governance practices in their roles of oversight and It matters.

HORIZONS

Remembering Yesterday

GETTING STARS INTO THE SKY THERE WAS NEVER ENOUGH MONEY. THERE WERE PLENTY OF DISBELIEVERS AND NAYSAYERS. BUT A SMALL GROUP OF PEOPLE WITH A LIFESAVING VISION WOULDN’T LET ANY OBSTACLE STAND IN THEIR WAY

By Anh Chu

T

HREE MEN SIT IN AN OFFICE in one of the hangars west of the Calgary International Airport reminiscing about the past. These grateful and incredibly humble men are visionaries, though they did not always possess moments of unwavering surety. Nor did they imagine that a seed of an idea would turn into their life’s work. Yet their passion helped to bring STARS into the sky 25 years ago, and has impacted thousands of lives since then. This is how it began.

IN THE EARLY 1980S, STARS CEO and Founder Dr. Greg Powell, then the Chief, Division of Emergency Medicine at the Foothills Medical Centre, noticed a disturbing statistic. Studies showed that in nearly 50 per cent of trauma cases, patients who died may have been saved had there been a quicker response.

Powell was frustrated with current emergency response systems that required ground ambulances in rural areas to speed to metropolitan centres; the system was too slow.

As a young medical student, Powell had visited a MASH unit in Vietnam in 1969 and witnessed how effective emergency

transport by helicopter could be. He knew a helicopter would dramatically increase response times and save lives.

Meanwhile, over in British Columbia, a company called ALC Airlift had just purchased a BK117 German helicopter designed for air medical rescue. However, the fixed costs of leasing, piloting and maintaining the $4-million machine were immense. Alex Lang, the owner of ALC, estimates that capital costs for the helicopter, insurance, facility rentals and crew totalled about $120,000 a month, before the helicopter even took flight. The government provided reimbursement for flight time, but didn’t account for all the time on standby.

Powell and Dr. Rob Abernethy met with the Lions Club for initial funding and found committed supporters and fundraisers.

Art Hironaka, then Secretary-Treasurer for the Lions of Alberta Foundation, clearly remembers this first meeting. “There was a young mother who came by ground ambulance to the Foothills Medical Centre from a rural area and did not survive the long road trip,” Hironaka recalls. “I’ll never forget Dr. Powell saying, ‘If we had gotten to her sooner, we could have saved her.’”

1985

1986

1988

The rotary air ambulance program, initially named Lions Air Ambulance Service, is established as a result of medical community concerns that Alberta had a 50 per cent higher death rate due to trauma when compared to other leading Canadian trauma centres.

The first mission is flown in December to transport a critically ill infant to tertiary care in Calgary.

Significant funding for the service is provided by the Lions of Alberta Foundation.

STARS is incorporated as a charitable society.

STARS receives formal recognition as an essential service when the organization is integrated into emergency planning for the Calgary Olympic Winter Games.

www.stars.ca

STARS 7

Remembering Yesterday

Hironaka, along with fellow Lions David Dalgetty (Chairman) and John Panton (District Governor), were keen to support the project.

The Lions Foundation of Alberta became a co-founder and contributed $100,000 in seed money, thanks in large part to the trio’s efforts. In fact, the helicopter was originally called the Lions Air Ambulance before Alberta Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society (STARS) was decided upon.

MBB, the manufacturer of the BK117, donated another $50,000 to get the air ambulance off the ground.

In the early days, paramedics, nurses and doctors worked flight shifts without pay. Pilots and crew members worked for below industry-standard wages. As ALC Airlift owner, Lang offset the costs of running the BK117 by supporting the shortfall with the rest of his helicopter fleet. “There were stressful meetings where we didn’t know if we could last another week,” Lang says. While none of it made sense from a business perspective, Lang saw the need for the service and the commitment from medical staff. He was cognizant, too, of STARS’ pioneering approach. “There wasn’t a program in Canada that was similarly funded or had that level of direct physician involvement.”

Dr. Rob Abernethy, Head of Emergency at the General Hospital at the time, also credits Lang’s commitment for keeping STARS afloat. “All we had was a vision and some donations, but we were far away from financial security,” Abernethy says. “So Alex Lang took a huge leap of faith in supporting us.”

“Theoretically, Alex Lang wasn’t a volunteer,” Powell adds. “He didn’t know it at the time, but he really was a volunteer as he helped us during a period of time when we were barely surviving financially.”

The first flight took off from Calgary on Dec. 1, 1985 after months of groundwork. The first patient was a critically ill newborn who is a thriving adult today. As more missions took place, the volunteers spent additional hours evaluating missions to figure out logistics and to increase efficiencies. Fundraising became more critical. Throughout, there was an unyielding focus on what was best for the patient.

In those early days, meetings took place every few weeks in a small boardroom beside Powell’s office at the Foothills Medical Centre. The committee had grown to 11 people, now including Dr. Gil Curry, then Medical Officer with Calgary Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Roy Staniland with the Calgary Transportation Authority, Gord Jeffery with the Calgary Fire Department, Dr. Grant Innes with the Emergency Medicine Department at Rockyview General Hospital, and Hans Dysarsz and Greg Curtis with ALC. Later, the group met in even less glamorous digs that doubled as hangar space. “My office was two bunk beds, and the coffee table as my desk,” recalls Powell.

ASK ANYBODY INVOLVED WITH STARS about their contribution and they will defer recognition to someone else. It’s a humbleness that points to the teamwork behind STARS’ success.

The Lions Club continued to play a vital role in fundraising, and Panton took trips to 64 clubs around southern Alberta to garner donations and support. Helipads were needed in rural areas, so trucks filled with donated asphalt would help create helicopter landing fields, without any prompting. “Things got done,” Panton explains, “by the rural people.”

Abernethy and a medical crew took the chopper to towns and rural areas to educate medical caregivers and citizens about STARS. Abernethy

1991

1992

1993

The Edmonton base is established and carries out its first mission in October.

STARS is awarded rotary and fixed-wing air medical ambulance contracts for both Edmonton and Calgary bases by the provincial government.

The Alberta Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service Foundation is established to consolidate fundraising programs and provide opportunities for long-term funding.

STARBEAR, the official mascot, is born.

The first Calendar Campaign fundraiser takes place.

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STARS

HORIZONS

STARS CREW MEMORIES CAROLYN VACEY, Calgary flight nurse

ART HIRONAKA, JOHN PANTON and DR. GREG POWELL

“As one of the original flight nurses with STARS, I am so fortunate to have participated in the remarkable evolution of STARS. It has been a journey filled with unforgettable experiences, special memories and incredible individuals.

One patient I flew for ended up dying at the scene, despite the many efforts of the hospital staff, the paramedic and myself. The paramedic and I stayed to tell the parents that we did everything we could to save this young girl’s life. As a new mom at the time, I felt the need to connect with this grieving mother. I won’t ever forget her grief, her hug and her tears.

She understood that we did everything we could, but that her young daughter’s injuries were too severe. Months later, I received a card from her with her words of appreciation that we had been there and did our best, and that she appreciated that we stayed, brief as it was, to help support them.

It was a tragic but unforgettable memory.”

recalls the mutual excitement and skepticism of the townspeople; a he- tions and raffles to raise money. At the end of the evening, Powell was licopter air ambulance had been attempted before by a private com- invited to the podium where he received two things: a standing ovapany, but it was not sustainable. He had to convince them that STARS tion before he had said a word and a $100,000 cheque, money that the townspeople had raised. had direct buy-in from the medical community. STARS was different.

That same night a local farmer approached Powell. “You know, doc, Word of mouth spread and donations arrived. Just in time, too.

Finances were so tight the first few years that treasurer Hironaka out here in Hanna when you had the big one, you died.” The farmer put wrote tax receipts by hand to save money. During one early mission, a hand over his heart. “Now that you’re here, we have a chance.”

That was a turning point for Powell, who admits that the hurdles STARS picked up a patient from Picture Butte; the patient didn’t survive of keeping STARS in the sky evoked a rollercoaster of but STARS’ quick response allowed emotions. “That was the end of any doubts I had that her family to say their goodbyes. THERE WASN’T A PROGRAM IN STARS was going to work.”

Hundreds of donations poured in. CANADA THAT WAS SIMILARLY A quarter century later – five helicopters, three bas“I had to handwrite about 300 rees, over 20,000 missions, international awards as leaders ceipts,” Hironaka remembers. “I FUNDED OR HAD THAT LEVEL in air medevac and recognition with an Order of Canada even had to handwrite all the enve- OF PHYSICIAN INVOLVEMENT. distinction for Powell – STARS is flying high above anylopes afterward. My wife and I must one’s wildest dreams. have spent three or four days on those.”

The meaning of STARS is obvious to Powell. “When my wife, Linda, STARS has always had a unique ability – known colloquially as the “STARS sponge” by staff – to absorb enthusiastic volunteers and con- and I are walking together on the street, people will stop us and ask, tributors into the fold. True to its grassroots beginnings, individuals ‘How many helicopters do we have now?’ Not how many do you have, and communities would rally together to fundraise for STARS. Powell but how many do we, as a community, have. That sense of community recalls an invite to the town of Hanna. On his arrival, he saw a big ban- that’s come as a result of the STARS program is....” He pauses to reflect, ner that read “Hanna Helping STARS,” and 300 to 400 people crammed the pride in his and all the founders’ faces clear as day. “You can’t put into its community hall. The town was holding silent auctions, live auc- that into words.”

1994

1996

1998

The first STARS Lottery is held.

The STARS Emergency Link Centre is set up with funding received from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers.

STARS Aviation Canada Inc. is established with the financed purchase of the Calgary and Edmonton helicopters.

A successful Seconds Count Capital Campaign launches to raise funds to pay out loans on two helicopters.

STARS receives full accreditation as a critical care provider from the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS). STARS is the first Canadian and first non-U.S. program to earn this accreditation.

www.stars.ca

STARS 9

Remembering Yesterday

CHAMPIONS OF FUNDRAISING GRASSROOTS SUPPORT WAS INSTRUMENTAL TO 25 YEARS OF CARE

By Leanne Rekiel

E

VEN PRIOR TO THE FIRST STARS base opening in 1985, there was a need for financial support, and right from the start, the community stepped up.

Brian Pound was an executive member of the Lions Club in 1985, when two of his fellow Lions came forth with a proposal to fund an air ambulance organization.

“John Panton and Art Hironaka came to a Lions cabinet meeting and said, ‘This is something we need to be involved with,’” says Pound, who supported the concept, and later, in his Lions role as District Governor, would be an active and passionate STARS spokesperson.

Pound helped educate Lions members and the public on the role of the life-saving organization and attended numerous fundraisers as communities rallied to keep STARS in the sky.

“There’s no question that STARS had grassroots support,” said Pound.

EARLY FUNDRAISING ENDEAVOURS Pound says it didn’t take long before small communities were holding various fundraisers across southern Alberta.

“I remember a teddy bear in Hanna that got auctioned off several times, and it turned into a bit of a game,” says Pound.

Bob Young, a pilot who started with STARS in 1986, recalls how the STARS Store began in those early days when the organization was struggling to survive.

He explains how the helicopter was not equipped with a medical interior, and equipment was just carried on as needed.

“There was a mission to Ghost Lake,” says Young. “That trip was the motivation for the ‘hat fund’ to start.”

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The patient had been involved in a boating accident and was bleeding heavily during transport back to Calgary. The blood covered the floor and even spread into the cockpit, at which point the transducers for the fuel tanks shorted out causing the fuel quantity gauges to read zero.

The crews decided they needed to raise money for an engineered floor to prevent a similar occurrence in the future. One of the pilots designed a hat, and the pilots began selling the hat from the back of the helicopter when the medical crews were busy tending to patients.

“We expanded to t-shirts, jackets, then different types of hats,” says Young. “People were coming into the base all day long to buy STARS gear. The STARS Store meant a lot to us back then.”

Engaging corporations started at this time when both Caroline Davies and Sonja Barton joined the team to support fundraising efforts, both corporately and in the community.

THE BIRTH OF THE STARS CALENDAR Another early fundraiser that got underway in the early 1990s was the Calendar Campaign, and pilot Greg Curtis recalls how

1999

2000

2001

The Chain of Survival Fund is established to provide community emergency service providers with financial assistance for medical equipment and training needs.

The Human Patient Simulator Program is established in Alberta through the support of founding donors Lions International Multiple District 37 and Lockerbie & Hole.

A third helicopter takes flight as the back-up and support helicopter to the two primary helicopters for use during times of maintenance and repair.

The Association of Air Medical Services (AAMS) names STARS the recipient of its prestigious Program of the Year Award.

As with CAMTS, STARS is the first Canadian and first non-U.S. program to receive this honour.

A fourth helicopter is purchased for operational back-up and training to meet future additional aircraft requirements.

STARS

HORIZONS

the concept became a reality.

“The firemen were doing a calendar at the time,” says Curtis, who was approached by a colleague at a print shop who offered to assist with putting one together for STARS. “We put a bunch of pictures together and came up with some informative stories. We printed 5,000 and sold them for $10.

There were no patient stories or bandages at that time, but we did promote the STARS Store in the back of the calendar.”

As the years passed, the Calendar Campaign expanded ten-fold and now features compelling patient stories and raises upward of $1 million annually.

“I didn’t realize what a success it would be,” says Curtis, one of the first pilots at STARS. “It just kind of grew and mushroomed. The community loved the images of the red helicopter and have been supporting the campaign ever since.”

ENGAGING THE RURAL SUPPORTERS Rural supporters were vital right from day one, and Stan Grad knew that the key to keeping STARS afloat was creating awareness in rural communities.

In 1990, Grad wrote to STARS about the recent loss of his daughter who had been airlifted to Foothills Medical Centre.

“With this tragedy, as a family, we became immediately aware of how critical air ambulance service is to each and every member of rural Alberta,” wrote Grad.

Grad offered to donate a completely restored 1929 ¼-ton Model A truck to STARS and proposed that it be incorporated into a parade float and taken across rural Alberta to community fairs and rodeos.

Grad, with his passion to make a difference and with the help of his own office staff at Grad & Walker Resources Ltd., coordinated volunteers to accompany the float to these rural events.

“We really didn’t have a financial goal. Our whole thrust was to create public awareness.”

Grad didn’t stop there, as he continued to work with influential rural supporters who helped rally municipalities, such as the Municipal District of Rocky View and the Hanna Special Areas Board, for support. This

ALBERTA SUPPORT: From rural fundraisers to capital campaigns, like Seconds Count, grassroots support has kept STARS alive since its inception. (Right) The 1929 Model A truck donated

by Stan Grad

2002

2003

2004

STARS is requested to be the air medical provider for the G8 Summit in Kananaskis. The fourth helicopter is now ready for mission operations.

STARS surpasses the 10,000 missions milestone.

A mission to carry a patient from southeastern Alberta to Calgary marks the first mission utilizing night vision goggle (NVG) technology. STARS is also the first civilian air carrier to use NVG technology in Canada.

The Vision Critical Campaign is launched to raise funds for the purchase of two advanced technology helicopters and to establish THE STARS CENTRE for education and research – efforts leading toward enhanced patient care.

For the first time, three helicopters are simultaneously mobilized to respond to a mission in central Alberta.

www.stars.ca

STARS 11

Remembering Yesterday Peters and Grad teamed up to recruit additional community supporters in this campaign, with Joan and Jack Donald taking a lead role in the Red Deer area.

Joan reminisces about being asked to work on the campaign, as she already had an understanding of what STARS meant to the province.

“When I got into the first campaign, I realized what a needed role they performed in Alberta,” says Joan. “And you just had to meet Greg and Linda Powell to realize their passion for STARS, and that was contagious.”

The Donalds were extremely successful in their fundraising endeavours.

“We raised more money in Red Deer than we ever expected,” says Joan, who was recruited shortly thereafter to sit on the STARS and STARS Foundation boards of directors.

Her six-year term on the Boards took her into yet another major capital campaign.

Joan and Jack Donald

inspired other municipalities to follow suit.

Grad commented on how important rural supporters were to these and other fundraising endeavours in the early days of STARS. “Guys like Larry Stickel, Ron Carey and Harvey Trimble were huge supporters,” says Grad, just to list a few of many dedicated supporters.

The Grad family also became very involved over that time. Stan’s wife Jane was instrumental as one of the first volunteer coordinators at the Calgary base before she married Stan. His sister Celeste was also very committed to STARS, attending numerous events with Stan. His daughter Kara became involved a few years later as a volunteer coordinator at the Edmonton base.

By the mid-’90s, Grad was on the STARS board of directors and about to lead a new era of fundraising at STARS. THE LAUNCH OF STARS SECONDS COUNT CAPITAL CAMPAIGN Grad explains that in 1996, STARS purchased ALC Airlift, which meant STARS now owned its fleet of two BK117 helicopters. However, it also meant they needed to raise significant dollars to pay for the purchase, and in 1998 the STARS Seconds Count Capital Campaign was launched, with Grad and Rob Peters as Campaign Co-Chairs.

Rob Peters had also been involved with STARS for a few years by this point. Peters, who joined the board of directors in 1992, became acquainted with STARS when the helicopter landed at his ranch in southern Alberta to pick up an injured horseback rider.

He was renowned for bringing influential businesspeople by the Calgary base for lunch meetings with STARS CEO and founder Dr. Greg Powell. Peters enlisted two well-known women to Seconds Count, and Colleen Klein and Anne Sather were brought on board to help raise $7.5 million as Campaign Honorary Co-Chairs “We raised over $8.1 million,” says Peters.

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VISION CRITICAL CAMPAIGN SEEKS NEW FUNDING By 2004, STARS had begun planning for the future of its aviation fleet, and the Vision Critical Campaign (VCC) was launched with the hopes of raising $25 million for two new advanced technology helicopters.

Once again, Joan recruited her husband and the two of them got to work to form a new team.

“Fundraising is all about people who give to people, and when we picked a team, we always picked a team that had connections to different segments of the business world.”

Michael Honey was Chair of the STARS Foundation board when the campaign was launched, and like the Donalds, he knew how to approach the right people.

He also knew that the success of this campaign depended upon the energy industry. Together with Foundation Vice President Phil Levson, Honey approached many high-profile companies, and in return saw huge rewards.

“It was a no-brainer because STARS is such a benefit to their people,” says Honey, who was so determined, he sometimes simply didn’t take no for an answer.

“STARS was always one of the easiest organizations to raise money for because it’s so well known and such a great cause.”

Honey gives huge kudos to Craig Stewart, Chair of the Calgary Campaign Committee, Edmonton Chair Fran Olson and Red Deer Co-Chairs Joan and Jack Donald, and their high-profile committee members.

Ultimately, the VCC raised over $27 million to fund the two new helicopters and the expansion of THE STARS CENTRE for education and research.

PETROLEUM PRODUCERS GET BEHIND STARS In 1996, Gerry Protti was Chairman of the STARS Foundation. In his 12 years on the board, he was involved in several key accomplishments, but one that stands out involved the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP).

2004

2005

A unique training system, Full Mission Simulation (FMS), is developed, allowing the medical and aviation crew to train as a team in a simulated environment.

A plan is developed to enhance the site registration program over the next three years through $1 million in funding jointly provided by the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) and the Small Explorers and Producers Association of Canada (SEPAC).

A fifth helicopter is added to the fleet as an interim solution to meet the growing need in the community until the larger, new technology helicopters arrive.

STARS is recognized with a Neil J. Armstrong Memorial Award. The Armstrong Awards recognize individuals and organizations that have demonstrated excellence and a high level of achievement within the aviation and space industry of Western Canada.

Dr. Greg Powell, founder and STARS President and CEO, is named one of Alberta’s 100 Physicians of the Century.

STARS

HORIZONS

“I was involved in securing the initial funding from CAPP to get the STARS Emergency Link Centre (STARS ELC) established,” says Protti, who got involved with STARS because he felt connected to the cause.

“When I heard about STARS, I just knew it was the type of organization that I wanted to be involved with,” says Protti, adding he was always impressed by the commitment, dedication and passion of the people at STARS. PSAC GALA GARNERS SUPPORT The Calgary oil and gas industry began supporting STARS in another capacity in 1995, when the Petroleum Services Association of Canada (PSAC) began hosting a gala every winter in Calgary.

Joan Black had recently joined STARS to head up two major fundraising endeavours, one of which was working with PSAC on a gala.

She recalls working with Dennis Flanagan who was finishing a term as Chairman of the STARS Foundation at the time and Ihor Mazuryk, then Board Chair of PSAC. Flanagan says he was recruited to contribute his financial expertise. “I was helping them work on budgets and financial planning,” says Flanagan, his expertise supporting the development of the STARS Foundation and major fundraisers like the PSAC gala.

Black recalls being at a meeting with the PSAC board to form a committee to organize the gala for STARS. “I said we could raise $250,000 net, and everyone looked at me like I was crazy,” says Black. “In the second or third year, the gala reached this goal.”

The gala has since raised a cumulative total of $4.1 million and continues to this day, and PSAC and STARS continue to enjoy a strong collaborative relationship.

THE BIRTH OF THE STARS LOTTERY Black and Flanagan were both part of the birth of the most successful fundraiser that has raised $86 million net over 17 years.

Flanagan was cautious initially about the lottery, but Black had experience behind her, as she had introduced the first-ever major prize lottery in Alberta a few years back.

She accepted the challenge to launch the STARS Lottery in 1994.

Black aimed to make the lottery affordable to rural Albertans as she was well aware of the level of support from those areas.

“With the first lottery, we sold 60,000 ticket orders with one house in Calgary and a total prize package of $750,000,” says Black. “It sold out in three weeks.”

As the years passed, they added houses in Red Deer, Edmonton and Lethbridge, and each time proceeds from the lottery increased.

“We’ve now increased to over 3,000 prizes worth $4.8 million,” says Black, noting that in 2009 and 2010, net proceeds exceeded $10 million each year. In 2010, STARS acknowledged the incredible community support from Albertans by placing a special decal on its fleet of helicopters.

www.stars.ca

DONORS IN PROFILE A COMMITMENT TO LIFE

BY KRISTIANA INDRADAT

Tyson Parker hopes no one ever experiences what he lived through five years ago. Parker’s friend was driving them both home from Pigeon Lake after a day of wakeboarding, when their truck collided head-on with an SUV, four kilometres south of Leduc on Highway 2A. STARS airlifted Parker to the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton where he was treated before being moved to Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital. Parker was in a coma for two weeks, and it took him several weeks to make a full recovery, a recovery that he says was partially possible because of the STARS team that flew his mission. “It was believed by everyone involved – all the paramedics, fire crew and even the doctors at the hospital – that if STARS hadn’t been there to fly me in, to get the medical attention that I needed, I might have had a different outcome, if any outcome at all,” Parker says. “But how do you thank someone who may have helped save your life?”

To say “thank you,” Parker and his family and friends founded the Commitment to Life dinner and silent auction.

The inaugural event drew a crowd of 230. “I was going into the event thinking, ‘If we raise $5,000 or $10,000, that’s going to be awesome,’” Parker recalls. “It was going to be a one-time thing.” That first year raised $57,400.

Now 22, Parker is proud that the fundraiser continues to gain support from friends, family and the communities of Leduc and Edmonton. It now draws close to 500 attendees and has raised more than $270,000, and Parker is thrilled to have achieved another goal. The committee just reached the $250,000 mark where organizations/events are able to place a logo on the helicopter, having raised an amazing $95,000 at the fourth annual event in September 2010.

YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE Over the past 25 years, so many supporters have contributed to STARS through individual donations, capital campaigns, corporate and government support, the STARS Lottery, the STARS & SPURS GALA presented by PSAC, the Calendar Campaign and literally thousands of rural fundraisers.

We thank each and every one of you who have volunteered your time and financial support to help keep STARS in the sky!

2006

2007

2010

A third base opens in Grande Prairie.

Operations begin on November 1 on a 12-hour, seven-day-a-week basis.

Grande Prairie base begins operating on a 24-hour, seven-day-a-week basis.

Dr. Powell is made an Officer of the Order of Canada for his contributions to health care during a ceremony in Ottawa presided over by Governor General Michaëlle Jean.

STARS Foundation opens an office in Lethbridge, Alberta.

STARS celebrates its 25th anniversary.

STARS and Alberta Health Services sign a 10-year affiliation agreement. With this agreement, STARS assumes the role of facilitating medical referrals and advice, as well as the care and transport of critically ill and injured patients from rural hospitals to larger centres.

STARS is awarded the Andy Mynarski VC, Memorial Award for its search-and-rescue contributions.

STARS 13

DONORS GIVE THANKS A PROFILE OF TWO DONORS AND THEIR CONTINUED CONTRIBUTIONS TO STARS

By Kristiana Indradat

B

ECAUSE GRASSROOTS FUNDRAISING for STARS continues to be the norm, donors across Alberta find creative ways of bringing awareness. Sometimes they make an event out of something they enjoy doing. Other times, it doesn’t matter what the event is because STARS has had an impact on everyone.

FORE A GOOD CAUSE Nearly everyone at Birchcliff Energy gets involved in the company’s charity golf tournament, which has raised more than $186,000 for the STARS Grande Prairie base since 2007.

Diane Knoblauch, who moonlights as a tournament organizer in addition to her job as production accountant and field office manager, says 15 employees from the company’s head office in Calgary joined colleagues from the Spirit River office to support the event.

“It’s about socializing, enjoying the day and thanking all our service vendors, employees and consultants,” Knoblauch says. It’s also become a team-building event, with many employees participating and volunteering, getting to know staff outside the workplace. At this year’s event, Birchcliff president and CEO Jeffery Tonken manned gambling hole No. 3, along with other management employees, where golfers gambled against Birchcliff employees to raise money for STARS. That hole alone garnered more than $13,000. Gambling Hole No. 4 guest golfers attempted to out-drive members of the Birchcliff team, raising $7,440.

In its first year, the golf tournament drew 72 golfers and raised $23,050 for STARS. Each subsequent year has more than doubled the initial number of participants and funds collected with $50,000 in 2008, $53,000 in 2009 and this year’s tournament brought in $60,000. “It gives me satisfaction to know that our team was part of putting together an event that could raise these kinds of funds for STARS,” Knoblauch says.

The tournament, complete with dinner, silent and live auctions, takes place at the Chinook Valley Golf Course and relies on the continuing support from our vendor donations and sponsors to make the event free for participants. Birchcliff Energy covers participant green fees and sponsor donations provide supper for all. For the company, making STARS the charity of choice in the Grande Prairie area is a natural fit. “We feel that having this service in our northern area has

14

STARS

become a necessity as it affects so many people in the community, including workers, service providers, neighbours and families,” Knoblauch says. “It’s a valuable resource our community has come to rely on as we continue to stay committed to safety. That’s why we chose it as our charity.”

SADDLE UP Laura Palmer believes STARS plays a role in making sure equestrians in the rural community continue to enjoy their passion to ride. That’s why she has helped organize the Millarville Ride for STARS fundraiser for the past 18 years. The fundraiser has donated more than $700,000 and the committee wants to raise $1 million by the fundraiser’s 20th anniversary in 2012.

Palmer’s history with STARS goes back to 1988 on the day that Palmer was riding her horse. She attempted to make a jump. Her horse slipped. Palmer tumbled off and the mare fell onto her, knocking her unconscious. STARS arrived and flew her to the Foothills Medical Centre.

Four years later, Palmer’s 18-year-old son, John, was playing polo when his horse tripped as it was racing down the field. The horse fell on John. STARS arrived, but the team was not able to save him and he died as a result of a brain stem injury. “I wanted to do something for STARS because they flew not only me, but also my son who subsequently passed away.

STARS did everything to save him,” remembers Palmer.

With support and encouragement from friends and likeminded equestrians, Laura Palmer and her husband, Byron, started the fundraiser with the help of Millarville Racing & Agricultural Society and the Calgary Hunt Club. “A lot of times we are riding somewhere so remote that a land ambulance couldn’t possibly get there,” says Palmer. “This is our way of doing our thing to raise money for STARS so that it continues to be there for us and others in the area.”

Each year, roughly 200 riders pledge to be part of one of three rides, which vary in length to accommodate different riding abilities. Afterward, riders have a barbecue and silent and live auctions.

Reflecting on the past 18 years, Palmer says, “I’m proud of what our group has accomplished. We’ve worked hard and a lot of members have been on the committee since the beginning, and that kind of commitment is hard to come by.”

HORIZONS

THANK YOU! Because of your support, patients like these had a chance to celebrate the STARS 25th Anniversary on October 2 in Calgary & Edmonton and on October 15 in Grande Prairie

PHOTO: JOEY PODLUBNY

Patient Story

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HORIZONS

A CLOSE BOND AFTER 25 YEARS STARS’ FIRST PATIENT SHARES IN SPECIAL CELEBRATIONS AND RECONNECTS WITH THE TEAM THAT CARED FOR HER IN HER EARLIEST MOMENTS

By Leanne Rekiel

K

ELLY HULSTEIN WILL CELEBRATE her 25th you to someone for saving your baby?”

For years, the Hulstein family had no idea that Kelly was birthday on December 1, 2010 – the same day STARS celebrates 25 years of care in the air. Kelly has the dis- the first patient. Then one day they were invited to attend a 10-year anniversary celebration for STARS. tinction of being the very first patient flown by STARS. “It was like, oh wow, we were the first ever!”

The call came in from the Lethbridge Hospital after Kelly’s Kelly was honoured to attend the celebration that turned mother, Diana Hulstein, went into premature labour at 27 out to be the first of many memorable occasions her family weeks. Her twins had become entangled in the birth canal.

“Kelly’s heart had stopped beating,” says Diana. “She was would share with the organization.

Kelly says the close being squished by Travis each time I THERE WAS A CHANCE NEITHER OF connection with STARS had a contraction.” has been very special over Physicians performed a caesarean THE TWINS WOULD SURVIVE, AND the years. section and neither of the twins was IF THEY DID, THERE WOULD BE “I’ve been in the 15doing well. year anniversary video “After the C-section, they decided LONG-TERM LASTING EFFECTS. and in two calendars in Kelly was in worse shape so they 1995 and 2005,” she says, adding she has also attended fundcalled STARS,” says Diana. “And they whisked her away.”

Meanwhile, a fixed-wing aircraft from Medicine Hat raising events in the area. One of the most recent celebratook Kelly’s twin brother Travis to the Foothills Neonatal tions was at the 2010 STARS & SPURS GALA in Calgary in January when she and Diana were the guest speakers.

Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

Also at the gala, Kelly and her family had the opportunity Diana recalls being told there was a chance neither of the twins would survive, and if they did, there would be to meet the NICU team that cared for her on that mission. long-term lasting effects. However, thanks to the excep- Respiratory therapist Kassim Daya and RN Brenda Sansom tional care the twins received in NICU, they were home were picked up by the STARS helicopter that day and taken to Lethbridge. within a few weeks.

Sansom says it was hugely gratifying to meet the young “Kelly weighed just over five pounds when she came home,” she says. “When they both came home from the patient who she’d cared for so many years ago.

“It gives you a warm feeling to see this really vibrant hospital, they did really well. We were so blessed. If it hadn’t been for the care here (in Lethbridge), and then from young lady. Can you imagine a more gratifying job?”

In addition to transporting Kelly in the helicopter, STARS, NICU and the chain of survival, who knows what Sansom spent time with both twins in the NICU unit for the would have happened.”

Diana recently sent a photo of her and Kelly to STARS. weeks they were in the hospital.

“I remember caring for them, because they were there It was of their mother-daughter trip to Paris in front of the for a while. Twenty-five years ago, births at 27 weeks were Eiffel Tower.

“It said if it wasn’t for STARS, we wouldn’t be here,” says a pretty big deal.”

Kelly, who still resides in Lethbridge, is currently studyDiana, who continues to express her gratitude to the founding to get her accounting degree. Diana and Hans Hulstein ers of STARS. “Thank God Dr. Powell had this notion that we re- and their eldest son Mark also reside in Lethbridge, while ally needed a rapid transport system,” she says. “My hus- Kelly’s twin brother Travis now lives in Vancouver.

Kelly was also invited by STARS to attend a 25th anniband and I are very thankful he had that vision for STARS and found so much support from the community. versary community celebration on October 2, 2010. As part I cannot imagine how many lives it has saved over the years. of the festivities, the STARS crew took her on an honorary STARS is so close to our hearts. How do you say thank ride in the helicopter.

www.stars.ca

STARS 17

Remembering Yesterday

SOARING INTO EDMONTON Sitting around a table made of sawhorses, a team of dedicated volunteers steered the STARS Edmonton base through its first years

By Lisa Ricciotti

covers of three massive scrapbooks maintained by Office Administrator Claudia Kowal, who’s been with the Edmonton base since it began. The faded newspaper clippings chronicle the dramatic journey from a shaky start to a modern-day sucaving lives when minutes count is serious cess.

“We had nothing in the beginning,” says Kowal. “All the docbusiness. Yet when he thinks back to how the Alberta Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society came to Edmonton, tors, nurses and paramedics donated their time, and everyone STARS President and CEO Dr. Greg Powell has a funny story worked in one large room in Esso’s hangar, gathered around a plywood table mounted on sawhorses. We shared one phone, to share.

After Powell and his colleaugues founded STARS in and the medical crew shared flight suits. A paramedic donated Calgary in 1985, emergency doctors couldn’t help but notice the a coffeepot, and another lent us a fax machine. One dedicated big difference its rapid red helicopters made in improving the volunteer hauled a huge computer in daily from his Toyota – no laptops back then! That volunodds for the critically ill and injured. teer, by the name of Roy Phillips, Over the years, as survival rates All the doctors, nurses and was then hired as our second steadily climbed for patients flown paramedics donated their time, pilot and is still with us today! into Calgary hospitals, compared to The walls were an awful pink. those delivered to Edmonton’s via and everyone worked in one But that’s where I got hooked road ambulances, the need for a simi- large room in Esso’s hangar, on STARS, seeing the amazing lar service based in Alberta’s capital gathered around a plywood things we do.” became more evident. “But since Ron Ellard, STARS’ first STARS was still struggling with fund- table mounted on sawhorses.

Edmonton helicopter pilot, reing back then, we kept our focus on members that after joining STARS in Calgary in 1989, and with Calgary,” Powell explains.

Still, well aware of the long-standing rivalry between the the encouragement of Calgary Aviation Manager Greg Curtis, two cities, Powell knew the disparity in care couldn’t con- he was appointed Edmonton’s General Manager, charged with tinue. “When Edmonton hospitals invited me up for dis- getting the base off the ground. “I was the pilot, plus a jack-ofcussions in 1991, I realized there may only be two options,” all-trades,” Ellard says. “A typical day could involve work at the Powell recalls. “STARS could suppress operations in Calgary, base, talking to hospitals about designs for helipad landings, working in the community explaining what STARS did, then or grow into Edmonton.”

In the meeting, as hospital heads asked Powell what had evenings speaking to Lions Clubs. We were trying to turn on to happen to get STARS into Edmonton, he responded with as many fundraising taps as possible.”

Initially, Ellard did more awareness-building than flying, a straight face: “‘You have to let the Calgary Flames win.’

They laughed, then away we went. We rented space at Ed- since it took months before first responders at car crashes and monton’s municipal airport, secured a helicopter and crews emergency scenes began calling on STARS’ services. To build momentum, Ellard organized mock missions where a STARS and opened in Edmonton that September.”

It all sounds so easy now, after nearly two decades of STARS team would demonstrate how it would respond in a simulated missions from Edmonton, but the fledgling days were anything disaster. Ironically, Ellard had to interrupt one of those staged but smooth flying. The real story lies between the bright red shows in Morinville to respond to a real emergency request.

S

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STARS

HORIZONS

STARS CREW MEMORIES ROY PHILLIPS, Edmonton pilot “We started up with very minimal resources in Edmonton. I remember the little BO105 helicopter; it’s like the baby brother to the BK117s we have now.

We were a daylight-only, single-pilot operation for a short time in Edmonton.

When we started the base, encouraging the development of helipads was difficult as people hadn’t heard of a medevac helicopter and what it could do. We only had a handful of full-time staff and all of our medical crews were strictly volunteers.”

He remembers that as a turning point, after which there was increased demand for STARS. “We got a call from the Devon Hospital,” Ellard says.

“A four-year-old boy was playing with his neighbours’ dog, when the Lab grabbed his scarf, dragging him across the yard, choking him. We flew an Edmonton doctor to the scene, picking him right up at his house. He stabilized the boy, then we flew both of them back to an Edmonton hospital. It was so significant, because it helped people understand what STARS could do.”

One doctor who didn’t need any convincing about the value of STARS from the start was Dr. Garnet Cummings. Then an emergency doctor at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, Cummings was a daily witness to tragedies where he believed the outcome could have been better if the patient had more timely access to emergency care. On a personal level, he describes how his twin brother died after a motorcycle accident near Sylvan Lake in 1974. “It took four hours and 10 minutes to get my brother from the crash scene to University Hospital,” says Cummings. “Today, STARS can do that in 30 minutes.”

Cummings became the Medical Director for STARS Edmonton in 1992. He remembers the incredible dedication shown by its first medical teams, and how wonderful it was when STARS gained enough financial stability to offer some financial support to these teams, around 1995.

Barb Atkinson, one of the first nurses to sign up with STARS in Edmonton, has many stories to tell. Now a clinical educator with the Northeast Community Health Centre, Atkinson is still flying and passed her 600th mission milestone this year. Atkinson remembers her first flight with Ron Ellard, who often took curious nurses out on short runs to encourage them to get involved. “If you didn’t throw up, you were in,” Atkinson jokes. After her first mission, when STARS rescued a farmer injured by a water container that rolled onto him from his truck, Atkinson realized how STARS could save lives, especially in rural Alberta. “Right then, I made it my mandate to stay involved.”

As STARS’ red helicopters became a familiar sight within a www.stars.ca

250-kilometre radius of Edmonton and sometimes beyond, other crucial volunteers were also working hard to ensure its life-saving work could continue. Among them was J.D. Hole, of Lockerbie & Hole. A private airplane pilot himself, Hole couldn’t resist the invitation to join the first Edmonton board. “Our most pressing issue was to make sure we had a sustainable organization,” Hole recalls. “In the early days, we were often right on the line as to whether we had enough money to cover the next flight. But when it came right down to it, the decision was always based on the best interest of the patient. If we had a chance to save a life, we’d go, and figure out how to pay for it later.”

Hole walks the talk. In 1998, Lockerbie & Hole made a significant donation that, along with the Lions Clubs, helped fund STARS’ first human patient simulator program. The mobile unit travels throughout the province, equipped with computerized mannequins that provide medical professionals with realistic practice for emergency responses.

“The program improves the chain of survival, ensuring patients will get the best emergency care,” Hole explains.

Other board members like Fran Olson, who chaired the four-year Vision Critical Capital Campaign for the upcoming new AW139 helicopters, have also contributed to STARS’ success in Edmonton. “During my nine years on the board, I saw a real maturing,” says Olson. “We now have significant credibility with corporations and great buy-in from the public. There’s a real feeling of ownership.”

Although Dr. Cummings was forced to retire from STARS after a car accident in 1998, he still treasures his time with the organization. “I’ve always said I had fun there, and it was enormously satisfying. I had the chance to make a real difference in people’s lives.”

As Claudia Kowal puts away the big red scrapbooks, she points to a bouquet of red and white roses that make the same point. “A former patient dropped those off today,” she explains.

“When survivors walk through the door, whether it’s three months or three years after being flown by STARS, the emotion is amazing. That’s what keeps us all going.”

CELEBRATING 25 YEARS: STARS team members with J.D. Hole, one of the first Edmonton representatives on the STARS board of directors. (below) Board member Fran Olson launches the Vision Critical Capital Campaign in Edmonton.

STARS 19

PHOTO: JOEY PODLUBNY

Patient Story

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HORIZONS

A NEW OUTLOOK ON LIFE AFTER YEARS OF HARDSHIP FOLLOWING HIS STARS AIR RESCUE, A YOUNG MAN’S APPRECIATION FOR LIFE IS REAFFIRMED DURING AN EMOTIONAL REUNION

By Leanne Rekiel

F

Then in 1998, things started to turn around for him IFTEEN YEARS AGO, Brian McPherson was about to enter Grade 12. He had one more weekend of sum- when he realized he could still have an active, rewarding mer to enjoy before heading back to class. It turned life. It began with an introduction to wheelchair basketball.

“I went to the 1999 Canada Games in Newfoundland, out to be anything but enjoyable.

McPherson and his friends went to a cabin near Boyle and in 2005, I was part of the first and only Canadian team for a weekend of partying. On Saturday morning, they got to win the NWBA championships.”

His Alberta Northern Lights team from the National up and decided to jump on a couple of ATVs. McPherson had a friend on the back of the trike, while two friends were Wheelchair Basketball Association was later inducted into the Alberta Hall of Fame in recognition of their on the other ATV. illustrious victory.

“We came out of a tree cut-line McPherson also started playonto a gravel road going about 55 WHEN THEY TOLD ME THEY ing sledge hockey and was invited kilometres an hour,” says McPherto try out for the 2010 Paralympic son, who was racing to catch up. HAD CALLED STARS, I KNEW Games in Vancouver.

As he did, his friend veered in I WASN’T DOING TOO WELL. “I fell short, but I’ve been trainfront of him, and McPherson went down a four-foot embankment where a foot-wide log lay ing ever since,” said McPherson, who is determined to compete in the 2014 Paralympics in Sweden. at the bottom.

Today, McPherson works for the Paraplegic Association “I landed on the log, and the quad landed on top of me,” says McPherson, who was thankful the other rider was not in Edmonton, and says he has a new appreciation for life.

“I have a beautiful girlfriend, a nice condo and a wonderinjured.

He remembers being conscious the whole time and ful life,” says McPherson, who is also a motivational speaker. waiting for the ground ambulance to arrive. He was taken He has spoken for the United Way Campaign and is a trainer/facilitator of a wellness program offered by the Canadian to a hospital in Boyle, where STARS was called.

“When they told me they had called STARS, I knew I Paraplegic Association called Sail Your Own Ship.

He credits his new life to the ongoing support he rewasn’t doing too well,” he says. “I remember the whole thing until they put me in the STARS helicopter. The last thing I ceived over the years from friends and family. Perhaps saw was a guy who looked like ET but it was just the STARS the final chapter on the road to acceptance came in 2010 when his father met the STARS flight nurse who cared for helicopter pilot!”

McPherson was taken to the University of Alberta Hos- McPherson so many years ago. She extended an invitation pital in Edmonton, where he learned his T-12 vertebrae for McPherson to come to the Edmonton base for a tour.

When he accepted and toured the base with some had been crushed, leaving him a complete paraplegic. He had two-six and-a-half inch titanium rods and four screws friends, he found it to be an emotional day.

“They got a call while we were there, and that’s what inserted into his spine. He spent two weeks in ICU then a month and a half in the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital triggered it,” he says, adding that he was overwhelmed by the experience. He went back to the base for a second visit before going home in a wheelchair.

Dealing with the aftermath of the accident that changed with his family and both times was touched by the hospihis life so drastically was not easy for McPherson. Today, he tality of the Edmonton team.

McPherson says thanks in part to his transport by readily admits the challenges and mistakes he made along STARS, he is alive today and able to enjoy so many acthe way.

“I spent two years as a drunk. My mom and dad threw tivities. He still rides an ATV in addition to waterskiing, me out and I lived on the streets,” he says, as he reflects on seadooing, downhill skiing and playing sledge hockey and his past. He started to pick up the pieces when he applied basketball.

“I only have one gear, and that’s 50!” for a government subsidy to get an apartment.

www.stars.ca

STARS 21

Remembering Yesterday

BUILDING THE PILLARS A FOCUS ON FINDING THE PATIENT AND EDUCATING THE PROVIDERS

By Tricia Radison

I

MAGINE A WINTER CAR ACCIDENT on a rarely used road, far from the nearest town. The driver is injured, freezing and doesn’t know where he is. Locating and treating him quickly is critical to his survival.

Ken King, Vice President of Emergency Communications and Quality Management at STARS, says “finding the patient” was one of the challenges in the early years that led to the establishment of the STARS Emergency Link Centre (ELC) in Calgary in 1996.

“When we began, the pilots walked around with those giant cell phones,” laughs King, one of the original STARS paramedics. “They took the calls, tried to find the location as best they could, hopped into the helicopters and were off.”

Today, calls are taken by trained communication specialists at highly technological stations in the STARS Emergency Link Centre (STARS ELC) in Calgary. Four workstations sport five computer monitors each, and are equipped with telephone systems and radios. High on the wall, where everyone can see, is a flat screen TV that serves as a giant monitor for viewing missions in real time.

STARS takes calls from industry, emergency medical services and rural doctors. Using a computer-aided dispatch program, GPS, radio and phone, communication specialists facilitate the rescue effort, connecting callers with local responders and conferencing in emergency physicians who can talk rural doctors through life-saving treatment, when necessary. “Advancements in technology have improved our consistency and accuracy,” says King. “We stay on the cutting edge so that we can do the best job possible.”

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STARS

PROTECTING WORKERS AT REMOTE SITES When the STARS ELC was established in 1996, cellular and satellite service was limited. Sometimes, people in an emergency situation didn’t know where they were.

Working with industry, STARS created a remote site registration service.

When industry members register a remote work site with STARS, they think about certain things before they start work at the site, such as what directions to give STARS, what communication abilities they have on the site and where a helicopter could land.

King points to the flat screen and asks a communication specialist to bring up Google Earth. In seconds, everyone in the room has an aerial view of Alberta. Dots are heavily sprinkled throughout the province; most are yellow. Others are blue, red or white, signifying different levels of medical expertise at registered remote worksites. “If somebody needs help here,” King says, pointing at a location, “we know that the red dot is a neighbour with a paramedic. Or this white dot is perhaps a camp, where they don’t have medical treatment capabilities, but might be willing to help. Someone can possibly be there in five minutes or the nearest ambulance service can be activated.”

HORIZONS

FROM ELC: Ken King, Vice President of Emergency Communications and Quality Management, STARS

NERVE CENTRE: Communication specialists at one of the workstations

www.stars.ca

STARS 23

Remembering Yesterday

LEFT: A communication specialist uses five monitors. Stations are equipped with telephone systems and radios CENTRE: Calls come in from industry, EMS, fire departments, RCMP and rural doctors RIGHT: iStan, a lifelike mannequin, is used for training BOTTOM: Air medical crew attempts to “save” iStan

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HORIZONS

THE STARS CENTRE: EDUCATION FOR EVERYONE Education is key to keeping critical care providers up-to-date and effective. THE STARS CENTRE was developed in 2004 to provide continuing education and professional development opportunities for its own air medical crews, and for partners in the chain of survival.

“The theory is: practice as you train, and train as you practice,” says Mike Lamacchia, Vice President of Medical Operations and Education. “Hopefully, what’s practiced in here will be used to help save lives.”

Lamacchia explains that learning is enhanced when participants have an elevated stress level. In other words, they have to be engaged and interested in what’s being taught. Realism helps foster engagement, thus ensuring that the education THE STARS CENTRE delivers is transmitted to participants.

BRINGING LEARNING TO LIFE iStan is a line of wireless, lifelike mannequins manufactured by Medical Education Technologies, Inc. that takes the phrase “anatomically correct” to a new level. iStan breathes, bleeds and has a pulse. With a physician controlling iStan through a computer program, the mannequin responds exactly as a real person would in a medical emergency.

Emergency physicians create scenarios for air medical crews based on real-life incidents. Physicians program iStan with true-tolife information and can provide X-rays, CT scans and laboratory results. Using real equipment and expired drugs, participants try to “save” the mannequin.

Each STARS facility is equipped with a simulation room, control area, mannequins and equipment. Thanks to the support of donors, STARS also takes the technology on the road in a mobile simulation program, which provides nurses, doctors and paramedics in rural emergency rooms with training opportunities they may not otherwise receive. www.stars.ca

TAKING IT OUTSIDE THE STARS CENTRE uses a variety of other technologies to complement good, old-fashioned lectures and to ensure air medical crews are continually training, including clinical rotations and online learning. Similarly, new technologies are adopted to educate first responders – EMS, fire and police, for example – in Alberta and eastern British Columbia communities. “We are only as good as our colleagues in the field,” explains Lamacchia. “If they’re ahead of the game and following a treatment regime appropriate for patient care, we can just continue that care as we transport the patient.”

The operational outreach program trains partners in the chain of survival, including EMS, fire and police, about how to access STARS, how to prepare patients for transport and how to set up a safe landing zone. Additionally, anyone can access a video covering landing zone operations at www.stars.ca.

STARS CREW MEMORIES LYNN TALBOT, aviation administrator “I was the first Linkee (STARS Emergency Link Centre Communication Specialist), and I remember being nervous to take the first call. I took the calls from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and after that, the medics would take over. We had no computer-aided dispatch system, and for mapping, we had all the maps on the wall. We would look at a big map of Alberta and find the place, then put it on an electric plotter. The recorder was a big box with VHS tapes. We could only listen to one channel at a time, and could only link four people in. I had to stay on the line and if another call came in, I had two phones to my ears.”

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Patient Story

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HORIZONS

THE JOURNEY FROM VICTIM TO VOLUNTEER AN UNEXPECTED RIDE IN A STARS HELICOPTER SETS A CRITICAL CARE STUDENT ON A NEW CAREER PATH

By Leanne Rekiel

J

ASON MACLEOD HAS A DREAM to work for STARS one “I don’t remember going into the helicopter but I do recall the viday as a flight nurse. He is quite confident he will soon achieve bration and the sound,” says MacLeod, who was later amazed that the this goal to work for the organization he credits with saving his helicopter was able to fly in the extreme wind that night. life almost 10 years ago.

“If air transport hadn’t been involved, I wouldn’t have survived, peMacLeod already had an interest in patient care in 2001. He had riod,” he says. “The story I later heard was that the time between STARS enrolled in a critical care program in Canmore, where he was living at landing and getting me to the operating room was eight minutes.” the time, with hopes of earning his EMT designation. He was aware of His first surgery was seven hours long. His injuries included a broSTARS at that point, but his real introduction came on March 28, 2001. ken ankle, thigh, dislocated hip, non-displaced pelvic fracture, all ribs broken on the front and several on the back, and a laceration to his diaAs he drove home from Calgary on a windy winter night, he phragm. He had a collapsed left lung, a ruptured looked down for a moment. Suddenly, headspleen and a severe pericardial tear. lights illuminated the interior of his truck. By IF AIR TRANSPORT HADN’T He spent 21 days in ICU and 17 days in acute the time he had a chance to react to the vehicle BEEN INVOLVED, I WOULDN’T care. While in the hospital, he developed pneuheading eastbound in the westbound lane of monia, sepsis and adult respiratory distress synHighway 1, it was too late. The head-on colli- HAVE SURVIVED, PERIOD. drome. He lost 38 pounds and spent six weeks in sion knocked him out, but MacLeod came to THE TIME BETWEEN STARS a wheelchair upon his release, followed by anothwith the slight impact of another vehicle hitLANDING AND GETTING ME er six months on crutches. It took almost a year ting his bumper. for him to regain his weight and strength.

“I remember everything seemed like it was TO THE OPERATING ROOM At that point, MacLeod abandoned his plans floating,” recalls MacLeod. “The canopy was off WAS EIGHT MINUTES. to become an EMT because he was unable to my truck and I was in a debris field. The windrepeat strenuous activities for any length of time. Four years passed shield was smashed and wind was blowing in.” before he felt confident enough to return to his goal.

MacLeod was aware enough to check himself over and determine Over that period, MacLeod had been in touch with STARS and met the extent of his injuries. the crew who transported him. He had also been featured in the 2003 “I was saying my right hand works, my left hand works, my left side is STARS Calendar and was now an active volunteer. He discussed his numb and sore. I tried my neck, and that was good. I remember feeling plans with members of the STARS Air Medical Crew, and ultimately my leg and thinking, I broke my femur, that’s not good.” decided on a different career path.

MacLeod managed to find his cell phone and call 911. The person At the age of 32, MacLeod went back to university to get his nursin the other vehicle that clipped his truck had also called emergency ing degree and graduated in 2009. Today he works in the respiratory responders, who were on their way.

Prior to emergency crews arriving, two people stopped and came to and thoracic unit at Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary and eventually hopes to move into emergency or ICU. He is taking an advanced MacLeod’s vehicle to offer their assistance. He told one of them to stop critical care nursing program at Mount Royal University and once he traffic and the other to get into his vehicle and keep him conscious. acquires enough experience, he hopes to enroll in the STARS Critical “I told her to get in the truck and start talking to me,” says MacLeod.

“If I passed out, I told her to hold my head up. She started talking about Care & Transport Medicine Academy.

“My intention is to get a job with STARS,” he says, adding that this hockey as they were just at a Calgary Flames game.”

He laughs, explaining that he’s not a big hockey fan and didn’t really will complete what he sees as a circle in his life. “I started on a path for want to hear about the game. Then an EMT came to his window and a medical career, and the link with STARS and my situation is that I wouldn’t have survived without them.” started to assist, while fire crews from Exshaw arrived and started ripMacLeod continues to volunteer with STARS and has developed ping the truck apart to get him out.

MacLeod was still conscious as the firefighters put a tarp over the many close bonds with the team.

He had the opportunity to do a ride-along with the Calgary STARS top of the truck and started to pull him out. His left foot was still caught under the clutch, and he screamed in pain and passed out. He vaguely team in 2010 and was energized by the experience. “I don’t remember recalls being put in the ground ambulance for transport to Dead Man’s much of the first flight and it was just fantastic to be a spectator. It was an emotional moment of just being proud to be in the helicopter.”

Flats, where he would then be transported by STARS. www.stars.ca

STARS 27

Remembering Yesterday

FOUNDATION OF A northern base Support for a STARS Grande Prairie base draws rapid response from community members

By Dawna Freeman

A

rapid response is imperative in medical emergencies. It is also how Andy Stewart describes the swift action and generous support of northern community residents as they worked to establish and expand the newest STARS base in Grande Prairie.

Within the first two months of its opening in November 2006, the base had quickly expanded service from 12 to 24 hours a day. But Stewart, General Manager of the Grande Prairie base over the past three years and a pilot, says they didn’t have a dedicated helipad, and missions were landing around the clock at the Grande Prairie airport and local fire stations. “The region came together in rapid response to provide funding and build a certified helipad at the QEII Regional Hospital in a record seven months,” he says.

On a frozen day in December 2007, about 200 STARS supporters gathered to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the base and to cut a ribbon, officially opening the new helipad. “It was a coming together of people from northern Alberta and B.C. in recognition of the importance of STARS,” recalls Stewart. “People were still arriving when a helicopter flew in overhead, on its first critical mission directly to the hospital, carrying a young gentleman badly hurt in a motor vehicle accident by Spirit River. The ribbon cutting was delayed by the landing of the helicopter, but the importance of the helipad at the hospital resonated with everyone that day. The young man is now a VIP [Very Important Patient] and volunteer ambassador.”

In June 2010, thanks to continuous community support, Grande Prairie became the first county in STARS’ 25-year history to have its logo placed on the fleet of five helicopters,

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recognition for reaching a donation milestone of $500,000.

But the logo unveiling ceremony at the base this past summer celebrated not one, but three $500,000-level milestones, adding Saddle Hills County and Peace River Regional District in northeastern British Columbia, which became the first major STARS municipal donor outside of Alberta.

“The STARS name and logo is one of the strongest brands in the province,” says Lyle Carlstrom. The STARS Foundation Board Director and STARS Society member is also a lawyer in Grande Prairie who has been a longtime supporter of the rapid helicopter air ambulance service.

“STARS ranks very high in terms of causes to support.”

Born in Grande Prairie and raised in a farming community more than an hour’s drive from the nearest emergency room, Carlstrom understands the importance of using helicopters to reach critically ill and injured patients in this northern region. “In these situations, STARS in the air supports the best possible technology, the best possible caregivers and the best possible health care.”

Stewart calls the challenging terrain and isolated northern infrastructure “heli-country.”

“Look on a map of northwestern Alberta,” he says.

“Points that seem nearby in central Alberta can be very far apart up here with the foothills, forests and river valleys – that’s why the forest and oil and gas industries use helicopters extensively.”

He recalls one critical mission where STARS picked up a hunter who rolled his quad down an embankment near Fort St. John. What took seven minutes by helicopter would have taken more than five hours by ground ambulance, across two HORIZONS

GRANDE SUPPORT: The community’s fundraising efforts have been instrumental to the continuation of the STARS northern base in Grande Prairie

rivers and through a cut line into the actual accident site. population lives within the no-refuel, 250-kilometre Unlike commercial helicopters that can’t fly at night, radius of one of the three bases. In an emergency, STARS aircraft are equipped the remaining six per cent with night vision goggle (NVG) Points that seem NEARBY can be reached by a comcapabilities. Stewart says the bination of air and ground NVGs are crucial for getting in in central Alberta can be transportation. and out of small or mountain- very far apart up here with In April 2010, the proous airports, such as Grande vincial government anthe foothills, forests and Cache, in the dark. nounced the Grande PraiDr. Cled Lewis, Alberta river valleys – that’s why rie base will receive, for the Health Services Northern first time, partial long-term Zone Medical Director, has the forest and oil and gas funding as part of an affilibeen working in northern Al- industries use helicopters ation agreement between berta for the last 36 years and STARS and Alberta Health extensively. knows how difficult it can be Services. “This agreement to respond in remote areas with a ground ambulance or heralds the beginning of an enhanced system that ada fixed-wing plane. He also knows the value of helicop- dresses the needs of people in rural Alberta to receive ter response, as he was a physician on a British army timely and sophisticated emergency care,” says Dr. ambulance service helicopter.

Greg Powell, STARS President and CEO. While working as medical director on a regional In October, the base celebrated STARS’ 25th anground ambulance project in the former Peace Country niversary by moving into a larger hangar facility, Health Region, Lewis approached STARS executives Dr. bringing all training and teaching services together Greg Powell and Linda Powell to discuss coordinating the on one level. two services. “Acuity and speed are the influencing factors “We’ve had a long history of people coming toif medical problems are of a serious nature,” says Lewis. gether to improve emergency medical services,” says “STARS is a great service, and a natural one here as far as Stewart, referring to the 13 municipal districts and geography is concerned.” counties of Peace River Region. “We’re very excited “With the addition of the northern base, STARS can now they partnered with STARS to provide additional reach 94 per cent of the province without having to stop to capacity and complementary level of service to imrefuel,” says Stewart. This is important because most of the prove the lives of people living in the north.” www.stars.ca

STARS 29

PHOTO: CHRIS BEAUCHAMP

Patient Story

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THE MINUTES THAT MADE THE DIFFERENCE IN A TIGHT THREE-HOUR TIME FRAME, STROKE VICTIM BRIAN GORDON’S LIFE DEPENDED ON THE QUICK DECISIONS OF HIS FAMILY AND THE STARS TEAM

By Leanne Rekiel

J

OANNE GORDON WATCHED the STARS heliAt first, even with the clot buster, medical teams did not copter land in her yard on December 2, 2009 to have high hopes that Brian would recover. A month after transport her husband to Grande Prairie after he had the accident, Joanne was told to prepare him for long-term a massive stroke on the left side of his brain. care in Valleyview.

“If it wasn’t for STARS, I wouldn’t have a husband,” says “He didn’t know how to do anything…he was just a body Joanne, who recalled the series of unfortunate events that lying in a bed,” she says. “But I told them Brian doesn’t do forced her to make some life-altering decisions. anything 95 per cent. He’s willing and determined.”

Brian arrived home to their farm 20 minutes north of Brian was in the QEII Hospital for just under three Valleyview at 4:35 p.m. Joanne months. He went home on Febsays he would usually park the IF THEY HAD TRANSPORTED ruary 26, 2010 and today, he’s truck at the house for her to use doing everything he used to do HIM TO VALLEYVIEW FIRST, to help him with the chores and with one exception – he’s still not then would walk over to start the BY THE TIME THEY GOT HIM talking, but Joanne believes it’s tractor. only a matter of time. Brian conBACK TO GRANDE PRAIRIE, “When I opened the garage tinues to work with an occupadoor to get my chore clothes on, OUR THREE-HOUR TIME FRAME tional therapist in Grande Prairie, he was lying on the floor trying to WOULD HAVE BEEN GONE. and the couple has stopped by get up. That’s when I got the porthe Grande Prairie STARS base THANK GOD FOR STARS. table phone and called 911.” on more than one occasion At about 5 p.m., an ambulance during their trips into the city from Valleyview arrived, as did the local fire department, for his appointments. followed shortly thereafter by STARS. “He’s on the road to getting so much better, and he has By 6:15 p.m., Brian was in the emergency unit, and not forgotten a thing,” says Joanne. “We’re so thankful.” when Joanne arrived shortly thereafter, she had to make Joanne commends all the partners in the chain of suran immediate and crucial decision on how medical crews vival who contributed to the outcome including the first should proceed. Physicians talked to her about giving responders at the scene and the medical teams who conBrian a clot buster but the side effects could prove fatal. tinued to care for Brian during his lengthy hospital stay.

Alternately, without the clot buster, he would likely be an Living in a small community, Joanne knows many of the invalid for the rest of his life. first responders personally. In fact her cousin Brian Witty, Joanne talked to their two sons and they told her what a volunteer firefighter, was at the scene to help set up the she already knew. Brian wouldn’t want to be an invalid, so landing zone for the helicopter to land that night. she agreed to proceed with the clot buster. The critical fac“STARS was very instrumental in Brian’s case,” says tor was that this drug had to be administered within three Witty, an 11-year veteran of the Valleyview Volunteer Fire hours of the stroke.

Department.

“If they had transported him to Valleyview first, by the Witty has seen his share of horrific accidents and meditime they got him back to (Grande Prairie), our three-hour cal emergencies over the years and believes the addition of time frame would have been gone,” says Joanne. “Thank the Grande Prairie STARS base was a welcome and needed God for STARS.” link in the region.

www.stars.ca

STARS 31

Embracing Today

ALL IN A DAY’S WORK A SNAPSHOT OF A STARS BASE

By Geoff Morgan

L

IGHTS ON A COMPUTER SCREEN the chopper that is waiting for them on the tarstart blinking – an indication that a call is mac. The sound of the engine fills the hangar. The coming in. It’s a call Karen Walker has been mission is about to begin. trained for. A toddler near Olds was hurt in an While the pilots are in the helicopter doing accident. The child will need quick transportapre-flight checks, Sproule and Zacharuk aption from Olds Hospital to the Alberta Children’s proach. Sproule parks on the bench alongside the Hospital in Calgary. Walker has already alerted helicopter’s stretcher. Zacharuk is at the head of STARS crew members to the situation with standthe stretcher. Syringes and other supplies cling to by and pre-alert notifications on their radios. the ceiling with Velcro and a wall – also covered in Walker sits behind medical supplies – sepafive different computer rates the medical team screens and four phones WE’VE GOT INCREDIBLE MEDICAL from the pilots. at the STARS Emer- CREWS OUT THERE. THAT CHILD The crew is airborne. gency Link Centre The familiar red chopIS GOING TO GET THE BEST (STARS ELC). Her workper hovers just feet off station overlooks a run- MEDICAL HELP POSSIBLE. the ground as it awaits way at the Calgary Interclearance from air trafnational Airport, one floor above the STARS helific control. With clearance, the craft swoops forcopter hangar. By hitting a few buttons, she sends ward on its way to pick up the patient at the Olds a series of tones to the pilots downstairs and General Hospital. activates the microphone on her headset. She Eight minutes have passed. gives a verbal message to the pilots, alerting them Back upstairs in the STARS ELC, Olds is a dot that it is time to go. on Walker’s computer screen. The town is on the Every STARS mission is staffed with two piinside edge of a red circle, she explains, tracing lots. This mission to Olds is no different. Fraser the parameter of the circle with her finger. It indiGamble and James Roach have already made the cates the area a STARS helicopter can reach in 20 flight decision. They don’t know the details of the minutes. The chopper has already flown past her case, but they do know the weather is clear and window towards Olds.

STARS can accept the mission.

Walker is one of the first points of contact Flight nurse Bonnie Sproule and flight parawhenever there’s an emergency and STARS is medic Dan Zacharuk are already in the medical needed. She has been at STARS for six years, and staging area, preparing for the mission. They pack says she loves what she does. “We’ve got incredmedical supplies, equipment and drugs into a red ible medical crews out there,” she says. At the medic case and zip it closed. Every spare centimoment she’s worried about the child in Olds, metre of the pockets on their blue coveralls and but reminds herself. “That child is going to get equipment vests are packed: spare gauze, scissors the best medical help possible.” Communication and medication are at the ready. specialists in the ELC are available 24/7 and coDressed in blue one-piece flight suits and helordinate missions for all three bases in Alberta: mets, the pilots march out of the hangar towards Calgary, Edmonton and Grande Prairie. STARS

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HORIZONS

FAR LEFT: The communication specialist at the STARS ELC is the first point of contact CENTRE: The pilots plot out the mission RIGHT: The flight nurse unloads the stretcher at the hospital BOTTOM: From the initial call into the STARS ELC to the pilot leaving the tarmac, the total time has been eight minutes

www.stars.ca

STARS 33

Embracing Today

FAR LEFT: The pilots wait for the air medical flight crew LEFT OF CENTRE: The flight paramedic sits directly in front of the patient RIGHT OF CENTRE: The crew heads for the mission with supplies FAR RIGHT: STARS volunteer stands with merchandise from the STARS store BOTTOM: The team arrives at the Alberta Children’s Hospital helipad

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HORIZONS

can reach 94 per cent of the province, as well as parts of eastern British Columbia, and it is an important resource for rural communities.

The STARS ELC also provides communications support for industry workers in remote locations. STARS developed an industry site registration program with initial funding from the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. When a company registers a worksite, it gives STARS information about the site. If Walker and her colleagues need to dispatch help to a specific site, they will already know information including the number of people, potential hazards and a GPS-pinpointed location. “It helps considerably with the response time,” she says.

Walker’s office is wired. There’s a map on her third computer screen (she has five in total, as do colleagues sitting around her). She monitors the helicopter’s location with GPS, and she makes contact with the crew every 15 minutes.

“The data is constantly evolving and changing,” Walker says of the crew’s flight. She indicates the four other monitors, to the left and right of the map she’s watching. Information, including the crew’s landing time in Olds, other emergency units that have responded and key contact information are all constantly updated.

In the back of the chopper, flight nurse Sproule and paramedic Zacharuk sit opposite each other. Together, they have more than 30 years’ experience at STARS, and both continue to work in emergency care outside the organization. Sproule works in emergency at the Foothills Medical Centre and Zacharuk is a paramedic/firefighter. Both are passionate about their work. They pack and repack the aircraft with supplies after every mission. Working as a team, they complement each other’s skills on missions.

Sproule says the drug availability inside the chopper is the same as an emergency room, but in much smaller quarters. The aircraft is packed with medical supplies, a ventilator, an ultrasound machine, diagnostic equipment and triple-channel pump. “It’s like a mini-emerg,” she says.

She can reach gear on the ceiling, strapped to the window consoles and under her chair. When she hears complaints about working in tight quarters in the hospital, she says, “Think about doing this in a helicopter.”

“It’s all about access,” Zacharuk says. When someone’s life is on the line, he needs to be able to retrieve proper medications and supplies. But he must also keep weight in mind as he packs for the next mission. This means Zacharuk and Sproule ensure they are properly prepared for each mission while in the staging area, keeping in mind that they need to pack only what’s necessary. www.stars.ca

Volunteers and donors are vital “I spend most of my day communicating,” says Sarah Koester, STARS Volunteer Coordinator.

As she talks and connects people with projects, her work puts a dedicated team in place at each STARS event across the province. She is always surprised at the level of support the organization receives. “The people are just so dedicated, they care so much – it’s amazing to see.”

Today, a volunteer has been busy putting together a book of news articles where STARS has assisted in an emergency, or where STARS has been mentioned or featured. The books will be used to celebrate the organization’s 25th anniversary. The volunteer base at STARS covers people all across the province and in all age groups, from teens to seniors. “All of what they do helps keep STARS in the sky.”

Lorna McNeill, STARS Manager of Donor Relations and Support, sees first hand the level of gratitude people in rural areas have for STARS. “Every time we fly over their town, they know we are there for them.”

McNeill says there are over 27,000 individuals who have given more than five times to the STARS Foundation, the organization’s fundraising arm. In addition, more than 4,000 corporations have given to the organization in just the last two years.

Sending a helicopter to an emergency site is an expensive operation and McNeill’s work in the office helps make that happen.

“We’re amazed by the rural events that take place,” she says.

The past summer saw numerous events hosted for STARS. For example, the Rumsey Agricultural Society and Battle River held horseback rides, the Gold Wing Road Riders Association hosted the Westlock Motorcycle Ride and the Sundre Renegades held a very successful 10th annual golf tournament.

These rural event partners work diligently to host fundraising events that contribute to the STARS Foundation. “I think they donate their time and expertise because we are so visible in their community and because they see the value of our service in rural Alberta.”

STARS 35

SHARING THE EXPERIENCE: Edmonton air medical crew performs a demonstration on iStan

There are additional pressures, however, working in an emergency room that’s travelling 250 kilometres per hour. “We’re rockin’ and rollin’ in here,” Sproule says. “It’s not a comfort zone.” With their years of experience, Sproule and Zacharuk have become veterans under pressure, and even in turbulence.

At the end of the mission, pilots Fraser Gamble and James Roach take a minute to replenish their energy. The red helicopter they’ve just flown from the Calgary International Airport to Olds and then to the Alberta Children’s Hospital is back in the hangar. It will be sanitized and restocked for the next mission. Gamble and Roach are doing much the same thing with hot food in the upstairs kitchen and living area where pilots stay during their 11- or 13hour shifts. They need to stay sharp for when duty calls again. When asked how they manage the pressures of flying, they credit years of experience.

“You can read about risk management in a textbook, but we live it everyday,” Gamble says. “Every time we go, we know it’s going to be critical.”

STARS pilots work efficiently to keep patients and crews safe as they’re transported across the province. That’s why STARS always flies with two pilots in helicopters with two engines. It’s about safety, Gamble and Roach explain. To fly as a captain for STARS, a pilot should have 3,000 total flying hours. On any given mission, Gamble explains, the total number of flying hours in a STARS cockpit is between 5,000 and often more than 10,000 hours.

These pilots’ experience stems from years of flying in extreme conditions and in high-pressure situations. Roach was an offshore pilot and has experience in the extreme weather systems of Canada’s East Coast.

Gamble learned from his time with the Canadian military and in commercial aviation.

Gamble and Roach explain that STARS is committed to providing the best equipment to make missions as safe as possible. Gamble says the attitude from STARS is, “if it’s mission-centric, then let’s get it done.” The pilots all have training in night flights, using night vision goggles. The difference with the goggles, they say, is as dramatic as turning on your headlights on the highway. “It’s enhanced the safety of our whole organization,” Gamble says, which is a key component of the life saving mission.

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EDUCATING THE PROVIDERS For nurses, paramedics, respiratory therapists and physicians who wish to prepare for a career in transport medicine, STARS offers a Critical Care & Transport Medicine Academy at THE STARS CENTRE. From her office at the Edmonton base, Amber Lee Mogg, Program Coordinator for the academy says, “Each of the learners has to complete three practicum shifts at one of the bases. The learners are paired with our air medical crews.”

The residency portion occurs over five days in Edmonton, where physicians lead lectures followed by skill stations.

“Simulation is a huge part of the training,” says Mogg, in reference to the human patient simulator STARS uses to replicate complex high-fidelity medical and traumatic simulation scenarios. These mannequins; which mirror human responses to such procedures as CPR, intravenous medication, intubation, ventilation and catheterization, are taken across the province for training purposes.

Another area of focus for THE STARS CENTRE is the outreach sessions.

“When I head out to a site [for a session], I deliver a two-hour presentation,” says Ryan O’Meara, noting that he may present to a partner in the chain of survival, industry or military. “The presentation includes a basic foundation of what STARS is all about, and we’re just gearing up to make sure facilities understand the process behind a new Rural Red Patient Referral program we’ve developed with Alberta Health Services.”

O’Meara, Community Education Leader, says his role also involves attending public relations events and organizing mock exercises.

“I act as a liaison between our community partners and the STARS medical and aviation teams.”

HORIZONS

THE ROLE OF A STARS REP REFERRAL EMERGENCY PHYSICIANS PROVIDE VITAL EXPERTISE IN THE STARS CHAIN OF SURVIVAL

By Shannon Sutherland

DR. MARK MACKENZIE

I

T WAS A COLD WINTER DAY in rural Alberta when nurse experienced in emergency or ICU care, an advanced a man attending a business meeting at a rural golf course life-support paramedic and the REP, who is trained in precollapsed from an apparent cardiac arrest. Immediately, hospital care and transport. bystanders leapt into action, administering CPR and callIn the early days of STARS, the REP was the only crew ing for an ambulance. member, aside from the pilots. Despite the addition of the The ambulance promptly arrived and attendants knew nurse and paramedic, the objectives of an REP remain the they would need assistance from STARS. “The bystanders same. “The role of the REP hasn’t changed all that much on scene used the equipment at the golf course to clear a since we first started the program, because the goal was, green so the helicopter could land,” says Dr. Mark MacKenzie, and is, to support rural physicians who needed assistance STARS Referral Emergency Physiwith trauma management,” says cian (REP) and Alberta Provincial Air Dr. Rob Abernethy, one of the OFTEN IN RURAL SETTINGS, Ambulance Medical Director, AHS/ founders of STARS. “Often in STARS. “From my end, as an REP, I THERE’S ONE DOCTOR AND rural settings, there’s one doctor knew that I needed communication ONE NURSE TRYING TO MANAGE and one nurse trying to manwith the University of Alberta cardiage several trauma patients at ology department. The University of SEVERAL TRAUMA PATIENTS one time – and oh, by the way, Alberta prepared to accept this fel- AT ONE TIME – AND OH, BY THE there’s also a baby being born low as a patient, and we were actually upstairs. I’ve worked in rural met at the elevator by the cardiolo- WAY, THERE’S ALSO A BABY medicine and I know how chalgist and his team.” lenging it can be. We can help BEING BORN UPSTAIRS. MacKenzie is one of about 40 guide them, or we can even get STARS REPs in the province. These doctors play a vital on the helicopter to go out and help them.” role, providing valuable medical advice each time The need for an REP to actually accompany the air amSTARS flies a mission, either by phone link or going on bulance has diminished since training and technology at the flights, as was the case in this golf course mission. STARS has evolved. These days, the REP accompanies paMacKenzie says that, as an REP, these missions when tients on the helicopter for 20 to 25 per cent of the miseveryone works together to achieve a positive outcome, sions. When a STARS REP isn’t physically on a flight, he or are the most fulfilling. “Everyone did what they needed to she is linked in, providing verbal medical advice throughdo, from ground EMS to STARS crew, and bystanders even out the mission. used some creativity in preparing a spot for our landing,” Despite his 25-year history as an REP, Abernethy admits says MacKenzie. “Coordination, communication and the he’s “not really all that keen on flying,” though he will gladly best in human nature all came together in those moments, hop on the helicopter when he’s needed. For MacKenzie, and that fellow was able to walk out of the hospital. That’s he always loves flying, despite the challenges of working in what I love about being an REP.” the cramped helicopter cabin. “There are all kinds of things The REP is one of the original roles at STARS. The crew you have to get used to, like working in a noisy, tight space, that responds to emergencies consists of a pilot, a co-pilot, a but there really is nothing else like it.”

www.stars.ca

STARS 37

Patient Story

PROUD PARENTS: Darren and Jari Opheim with their triplets

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HORIZONS

READY OR NOT, HERE THEY COME TO ENSURE A SUCCESSFUL DELIVERY, A RURAL HOSPITAL CALLS ON STARS FOR THE PENDING ARRIVAL OF PRE-TERM TRIPLETS

By Leanne Rekiel

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OMETIMES PATIENTS who are not transported by STARS still benefit from the expertise of the medical teams. Jari Opheim can vouch for that.

Opheim’s story began on June 12, 2009 when she went into preterm labour at 28 weeks in the small town of Oyen, 327 kilometres east of Calgary. Opheim was about to give birth to triplets, and the small hospital was not equipped to care for three premature babies.

“That day I worked at the hospital,” says Opheim, noting it was her last day of work before going on maternity leave.

WE THOUGHT THE When she arrived home, BABIES WOULD HAVE she took a nap, only to wake up with contractions.

TO BE BORN IN OYEN. She was able to get back to THINGS WERE PRETTY the hospital. “Within two FRANTIC THAT NIGHT. minutes, my water broke and the cord fell out.”

The prolapsed cord quickly became a critical factor, as the heartbeats of the babies were cut off. As the local medical team called STARS for assistance, another challenge became apparent. A severe thunderstorm in Calgary was preventing both STARS and fixed-wing aircraft from immediately responding to the call for help.

“We thought the babies would have to be born in Oyen,” recalls Opheim. “Things were pretty frantic that night.”

While members of the community banded together to prepare for the inevitable births, the STARS Emergency Link Centre in Calgary

www.stars.ca

STARS 39

Patient Story

THREE’S COMPANY: Sister Piper sits between her brothers, Aevynn, left and Torynn

kept all of the parties communicating through a conference call. A Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) team from Foothills Medical Centre, the Provincial Flight Coordination Centre, a STARS Referral Emergency Physician (REP), a STARS Communication Specialist and the physician from Oyen were all involved in the call to coordinate transport.

Dr. Arun Abbi, the STARS REP, says it was a matter of getting the NICU team to the babies as quickly as possible. However, weather in the Calgary area was a factor for the first hour, causing those involved to look at every option including sending medical teams from Medicine Hat or Saskatchewan.

Fortunately, the physicians in Oyen were able to delay the birth, and when the weather cleared in Calgary, medical teams were on their way. A three-member team went in a fixed-wing aircraft with an incubator, while another two-member team 40

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went with an incubator in the STARS helicopter. Yet another NICU team member went via ground ambulance. Meanwhile, a pediatrician from Medicine Hat also responded.

When the medical teams arrived in Oyen, Opheim had not yet given birth.

“As soon as they walked in, there was a sigh of relief,” she says. Everyone was happy to see the specialized teams arrive with the appropriate equipment.

“It was wonderful,” she says, adding that the STARS pilots played a role by keeping her calm as the medical crews assessed the next steps. “They were huge in our success story.”

Ultimately, Opheim was taken by fixed-wing back to Calgary, with one of the NICU nurses transported to Oyen by STARS on the aircraft with her. She arrived safely at Foothills Medical Centre and gave birth to three healthy babies: identical boys Aevynn (2 lb, 5 oz) and Torynn (2 lb, 5 oz) and their sister Piper (2 lb, 4 oz).

Dr. Pieter Bouwer, one of the Oyen physicians, says from start to finish, it was six hours from the point Opheim went into labour until she gave birth shortly after midnight.

The babies remained in the Foothills Medical Centre for a month and then transferred to Medicine Hat Regional Hospital for another month and a half.

“All three babies are growing well and are doing excellent,” says Bouwer.

The family occasionally comes back into Calgary for check-ups at the hospital, and recently visited the STARS base to share their story.

HORIZONS

Embracing Today

ONE MILLION REASONS TWO ALBERTA COMPANIES REACH AN IMPRESSIVE MILESTONE IN GIVING

By Shannon Sutherland

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WO ALBERTA COMPANIES are showing their Smith says contributing his time to STARS on the employees, and their communities, that there are a board of directors, as well as supporting the organizamillion reasons to make health and safety a top pri- tion financially, has been personally rewarding for him. “I ority. ARC Resources Ltd. and Talisman Energy Inc. have joined the board of directors for STARS because I wantboth reached a $1-million milestone in financial support ed to share in the organization’s commitment to saving to benefit STARS. lives,” says Smith. “The work “Our staff members drive BUSINESS LEADERS UNDERSTAND STARS does is important nine million kilometres each and has a great impact not year, and 6.5 million of those A WISE INVESTMENT WHEN THEY SEE only on their patients, but kilometres are in Alberta,” says ONE, AND BOTH ORGANIZATIONS SAY on the families and commuJohn Dielwart, CEO of ARC nities they work in.”

THAT STARS PROVIDES UNSURPASSED Resources. “Because of the Being a major donor nature of our business, they’re RETURNS TO THE ENTIRE PROVINCE. to STARS also creates a often driving in remote, rugreater sense of commural areas, and it’s comforting to know that a service like nity and pride among employees, says Dielwart. “Our STARS is out there. When we support STARS, we’re not name is on a helicopter. We certainly didn’t give with the only helping the community, but we’re also providing a purpose of getting our name on there, but we’ve heard kind of insurance that if one of our employees ever needs staff say that it makes them proud when they see STARS STARS, it will be there to help.” in action and see the name of our company on it,” says Business leaders understand a wise investment when Dielwart. they see one, and both organizations say that STARS proAt both companies, employees have sent a clear mesvides unsurpassed returns to the entire province. “STARS sage that they want to work for an organization that provides an extremely valuable service to Albertans,” says cares about the communities it operates in. “Our emPaul Smith, Talisman Executive Vice President of North ployees – in all of the regions where we operate – conAmerican Operations. “At Talisman, our top priority is tinuously demonstrate an overwhelming commitment to safe operations and our commitment is to have everyone community,” says Smith. “Talisman’s support for charireturn home safely at the end of each day. However, there table organizations, like STARS, is an important reason are times when accidents happen. As Alberta is home to why our employees work for our company and why our a number of our employees and contractors, the work company focuses our giving on local organizations that that STARS does may someday save their lives.” have a positive impact on people’s lives. We believe in And Dielwart says he can trust STARS to be a great the work that STARS does and are proud to have reached steward with the company’s donations. “STARS is a fabu- this milestone in giving.” lous organization, and as a donor, you always know that Having reached the $1-million mark in cumulative they’re going to get the maximum possible benefit out of giving, both of these organizations had their logo added your donation.” on the cowling of the STARS helicopter fleet.

www.stars.ca

STARS 41

Embracing Today

MONUMENTAL: Pictured (in back) are Ken Hughes, Alberta Health Services Board Chair; Bob Normand, STARS Foundation Chair (ret.); Honourable Gene Zwozdesky, Minister of Health and Wellness. Dr. Stephen Duckett, Alberta Health Services President and CEO and Dr. Greg Powell, STARS President and CEO (in front) during the signing ceremony of the 10-year affiliation agreement on April 28, 2010

Perfecting partnerships Strong links in the chain of survival and community enhance care

By Mifi Purvis and Leanne Rekiel

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T takes a team to deliver the best in patient care, and that team goes far beyond STARS. Linda Powell, Vice President of Governance and External Affairs for STARS, says that team consists of Alberta Health Services, businesses, donors, volunteers, STARS personnel and members of the chain of survival.

“STARS is a link in the chain of survival. We all rely on assistance from each other – first responders, dispatch centres, ground and fixed-wing air ambulances, fire, police, search-and-rescue organizations and specialized hospital-based medical teams,” she says.

“Partnerships are part of the essence of a successful organization, and we can all do more if we work together,” she adds.

One of those partnerships involves Alberta Health Services (AHS), and a particularly historic day that occurred in April 2010, when the two organizations celebrated the signing of a 10-year affiliation agreement.

The renewed agreement formalizes a plan where AHS and STARS are collaborating to strengthen the ability to care for critically injured and ill patients from rural areas who need transportation to major medical centres.

“The partnership and the partial funding for missions helps STARS to use its resources more effectively and with wider capabilities,” says Dr. Mark MacKenzie, former Medical Director of STARS’ Edmonton base. As part of the new agreement, MacKenzie became Air Ambulance Medical Director, AHS/STARS and continues as a Referral Emergency Physician at STARS. Since the inception of STARS 25 years ago, the organization has steadily broadened the scope of its training capabilities, something that attracted the notice of AHS. “STARS has been providing educational success for a long time,” says MacKenzie. “Through this agreement, STARS will be providing critical care education to all air ambulance critical care providers in Alberta.”

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According to Mike Lamacchia, STARS Vice President, Medical Operations and Education, STARS will facilitate a critical care, transport medicine education program (both fixed-wing and rotary), standardizing training and providing personnel across the province the opportunity to get the best possible education.

“We have a variety of sophisticated mobile simulators,” says Lamacchia, adding, numerous training programs can be delivered on-site by the STARS team to partners around the province. “We’ve been given the responsibility

by AHS to coordinate the care of critically ill and injured patients from rural Alberta requiring transport.” Lamacchia and the STARS education team work closely with AHS to implement the training to support that goal.

The agreement with AHS is just one example of the many partnerships that contribute to keeping STARS in the sky.

“We recently partnered with the RCMP to create a public awareness message about motorcycle safety,” says Powell.

In addition, Powell notes the northern Grande Prairie base has reached incredible milestones by generating unanimous support from all of the counties, municipal districts and towns in northern Alberta that are within the coverage area of the Grande Prairie base. With the support of the seven rural municipalities in the Peace River Regional District of B.C., STARS subsequently made history by adding the first logo of a major donor outside of Alberta.

“The corporate and community support we receive continues to astound us, and we are so grateful for the contributions of our volunteers who organize events, help out in our bases and who participate on our governing bodies, the STARS and STARS Foundation boards of directors,” says Powell.

“It does take a team, and we have an exceptional team,” she says. “We can all do a better job by leveraging the expertise of all of us together.”

HORIZONS

ALL IN THE FAMILY THE STARS FAMILY SHARES A UNIQUE CULTURE

By Leanne Rekiel TEAMWORK: Paramedic Ron Pasieka and Flight Nurse Sandra Young perform a “team pushup” as pilots Greg Curtis and JN Armstrong watch from inside the Calgary base hangar. Collectively, this particular crew has about 75 years of STARS experience

www.stars.ca

E

VERY WEEKDAY MORNING AT 10 A.M., our heart and soul,” she says. “Every day, people need to have members of the STARS team gather together at their a purpose and a passion to make a difference.”

JN Armstrong has been a relief pilot with STARS since collective bases in Calgary, Edmonton and Grande Prairie. Since the earliest days of STARS’ existence, the pilots 1988 and maintains that the culture has always been strong.

“Once you get involved with STARS, have chaired this informative meeting, nobody really, truly leaves. Even if they’re and if they are on a mission, someone ONCE YOU GET INVOLVED not going to work every day, it’s still in else steps in for them.

WITH STARS, NOBODY their hearts,” he explains.

The daily base meeting is one of “I know why I still do it,” says Armthe defining aspects of STARS’ REALLY, TRULY LEAVES. strong, who is also the Regional Cliniculture, according to Linda Powell, the cal Department Head for the Calgary Zone, Alberta Health Vice President of Governance and External Affairs.

“The base meeting is an amazing and key element of our Services, as well as the Academic Head for the Department culture,” says Powell. “It’s about conversation, laughter and of Anesthesiology, Faculty of Medicine at the University providing a forum for communication. Each of us can carry of Calgary. “Like many others, despite being busy, I value out our jobs better if we know what’s going on in all parts of my relationship with STARS. It’s a wonderful opportunity to fly and yet know you are really providing one of the the organization.”

Powell believes culture is the essence of a healthy work- best services possible to your fellow human being. That’s place with passionate people who care about the organiza- part of the culture. A lot of people stay here and work here for that reason. There’s a lot of personal satisfaction in tion and what it stands for.

“With a strong culture, all of us as individuals and leaders that.” have an opportunity to be very real about what we do, with all Jo-Anne King worked at STARS from 1985 to 1997 as a STARS 43

Embracing Today

SPIRITED CULTURE: (above, from left to right) Flight nurse Pat Jensen Jeffery dons a cowboy hat. Flight nurse Corinne Edwards celebrates 500 missions. Claudia Kowal, Linda Powell and pilot Greg Curtis. (below) Crew at the Grande Prairie base celebrate the opening of the new hangar

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Flight Nurse/Public Relations Coordinator and comments on the tightly knit group in the early years.

“It was an amazing group of like-hearted individuals who were really energized to change the world. There was a highstandard group of people just trying to put a very excellent, exciting program together,” she says. “We were very tightly connected. It was a very special, precious time.”

In fact, a number of close relationships evolved into marriages, one of which was Jo-Anne and paramedic Ken King, now STARS Vice President, Emergency Communications & Quality Management.

Due to the nature of the job, it’s no wonder crews have formed close ties over the years. Flight Nurse Sandra Young and paramedic Ron Pasieka discuss how important it is to be able to share experiences with each other.

“The most difficult flights are the empty ones. [The stretcher] is empty because something went wrong and there’s nothing you can do,” says Pasieka.

“We’re here for each other at times like that,” adds Young.

The STARS family, as it’s often referred to, is there for each other for the good times too. They participate in activities together, such as the 2009 Calgary Corporate Challenge that saw at least 50 employees team up, earning an esteemed Spirit Award.

“The team spirit award is an exemplification of our team being strong,” says Powell. “It’s these little things every day that each of us does to strengthen our culture.”

She also emphasizes that a huge part of the culture focuses on safety, and keeping crews, patients and the community safe.

“Our personnel have an accountability for our culture and our safety, and ultimately that supports an organization with a very positive reputation and engenders public trust.

It is humbling and a privilege to have gained this trust.”

The sense of family is very strong at all three bases, and Glenda Farnden, Grande Prairie Major Gifts Manager, says that the smaller size of their base in Grande Prairie keeps their close team in tune to every mission.

“We all know when a mission is happening and a lot of our volunteers are our own people and crews,” she explains. “Our off-duty personnel consistently participate in community events alongside the duty crews and the local volunteers.”

The unique culture also attracts volunteers to STARS, including members of the Boards of Directors (Society and

HORIZONS

STARS CREW MEMORIES CORINNE EDWARDS, Edmonton flight nurse “I was working at the University Hospital and my manager told me about this helicopter air ambulance that was thinking of starting in Edmonton. We went and met Ron Ellard, Ken King and Dr. Powell. They took us for a ride and I loved it.

It was completely volunteer based and people were totally there for the right reason, giving their time freely. People wanted to be able to look after really sick patients and make a difference.

One thing that was unique was being able to work with paramedics. I was out of my element with scene calls and my heart would be racing, but the paramedics were more familiar with these responses and helped put me at ease. The best advice I was ever given by another more experienced nurse was ‘Trust yourself, you’re a good nurse, focus on the patient and do what you do best.”

PAT JENSEN JEFFERY, Calgary flight nurse Foundation) such as Bob Normand, who recently retired as Foundation Chair.

“As a director and volunteer, it was very comforting to see the high ethical standards and relentless focus on safety that permeated all aspects of STARS’ operations,” he says. “Just as importantly, I’ve seen how the individual needs of patients, their families and donors are an integral part of the way all members of the STARS family approach their roles. STARS touches the lives of thousands of Albertans every year. It has been a real privilege to play a small part in that important work.”

“I was one of the first nurses to join STARS and we freely volunteered our time and energy because we believed so strongly in the program and wanted it to succeed. For the past 21 years, STARS has been an amazing part of my life. I met my husband here. He was one of the pilots and we got engaged in the helicopter.

Caring for critically ill or injured patients comes with great challenges and responsibilities. Of the 800-plus missions I have flown, I have witnessed much human tragedy, but it is the memories of the many patients that have made miraculous recoveries that I will forever carry in my heart.

All STARS flight crew members have one common fear. In January 2010, that unthinkable event happened to me. I ended up flying my own brother. It is the only time in STARS history we’ve ever had an on-duty crew member fly a sibling. The paramedic and pilots were so supportive, as were the on-scene EMS, police and fire personnel. When I look back, I’m glad it was me in the back of the helicopter that day with my brother.”

Steve Wuori recently retired from the Society Board after six years (four as Chair) and, along with his wife and daughter, will continue to be involved because of the cause and the supportive culture.

“I have tremendous optimism for the future of STARS,” he says.

“It’s been a very forward-thinking, dynamic and entrepreneurial organization since it was formed 25 years ago.”

The appeal of STARS is not limited to adult volunteers. Devon McLennan started volunteering when she was only 10 years old.

A number of her family members have worked or volunteered at STARS at one time or another in the Foundation or Administration and her mom was the Calgary medical base manager and an educator prior to her retirement from STARS. Now at age 16, Devon loves to attend community events dressed up as STARBEAR, the STARS mascot, or put on an apron and sell 50/50 tickets.

“It’s really not like anywhere else I volunteer,” says Devon, who plans on pursuing a career in medicine and hopes to one day enjoy the culture as a member of the Air Medical Crew. www.stars.ca

STARS 45

Reaching for Tomorrow

TOMORROW’S TECHNOLOGY

IN THE LAST 25 YEARS, ADVANCEMENTS IN HELICOPTER AND MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY HAVE HELPED STARS SAVE LIVES – BUT THE BEST IS YET TO COME

By Caitlin Crawshaw

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The AgustaWestland helicopter will fly further, faster hen the unimaginable happens, time seems to grind to a halt. A patient in a critical situ- than the current fleet and allow crew more room to care ation may not be aware of how much time has elapsed, but for two patients. The current BK117 aircraft carries one the clock is ticking. If a patient is bleeding internally or suf- patient with limited ability to carry a second. The AW139 has a de-icing system, which will allow STARS to fly in fering a stroke, mere minutes could mean survival.

“When you’re in critical condition, you need to be cared more inclement weather conditions than its current fleet for as quickly as possible and time is obviously of the essence of craft allows.

According to Werny, one of the most important differin all of these scenarios,” says Bill Werny, STARS Vice Presiences in the new dent, Aviation and Safety.

Since its inception in 1985, STARS In the beginning, STARS carried little machine will be its has conducted over 20,000 missions, more than a small stretcHer and a eventual hoisting capability. STARS helping those with acute health emergencies receive immediate care on single monitor. Now, it’s basically has been unable to respond to board the helicopter as they’re whisked a mobile intensive care unit. calls in rough terto the nearest hospital much quicker rain where helicopters cannot land. Hoisting capability than it would take by ground vehicle.

Because time is so critical, STARS has always incorpo- will allow hovering above an accident scene and using a rated technological innovations to treat patients as quickly as suspended basket to lift a patient to safety. It’s a major depossible. This includes both the aircraft itself and on-board velopment and it will make a significant difference once medical equipment. Over the last 25 years, the technology STARS team members become trained on it. “It takes a lot has changed dramatically, says STARS Chief Medical Officer of time to train people to be proficient in hoisting so this Dr. Dennis Nesdoly. In the beginning, STARS carried little capability will be introduced in due course,” says Werny.

The capabilities of the medical equipment on-board the more than a small stretcher and a single monitor. “Now, it’s craft are also evolving rapidly. Nesdoly points out that the basically a mobile intensive care unit,” says Nesdoly.

Much of this technology has been developed and used by equipment has become smaller and more sophisticated militaries around the world, like the portable ventilator and over time.

In the last few years, a hand-held, point-of-care, lab testnight vision goggle capability.

While technology has been evolving steadily in the last 25 ing device called i-STAT, has helped medical personnel test years, the introduction of the AW139 helicopter in the next year patient blood for blood gases, chemistries, electrolytes, hemoglobin levels and more within minutes. Portable ultrawill mean a major technological push for the organization.

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HORIZONS

NEW ADDITION: The AW139 is being introduced to the STARS fleet in 2011 and is a major technological advancement for the organization

sounds have also made a difference in patient care. The devices help personnel look for any internal bleeding, shock or heart problems.

Ultrasounds can also detect signs of tubal pregnancies, which can cause significant problems. “Fifteen years ago, the airborne ultrasound was futuristic,” says Nesdoly.

What’s needed now is a way to transmit the data collected onboard the aircraft to the hospital before the patient arrives, says Nesdoly. If doctors and nurses can assess patient data in advance of STARS’ arrival, they can treat the patient faster upon arrival in the emergency department.

That’s why STARS is working with Alberta Health Services (AHS) on a project that would allow STARS personnel to access patient records in the air and transmit data about the patient’s condition, and any treatments received in-flight, to the hospital. STARS already uses its own patient record system, but Sharaz Khan, STARS Vice President, Information Management and Chief Information Officer, explains that the two organizations are working to synchronize their systems.

This project also requires wireless data transmission. The best method appears to be mounting a mobile router to the helicopters, a method NASA currently uses. The tool itself isn’t expensive, but because of the large amount of data involved, finding affordable transmission lines is tough. “You’ve got data coming out of a monitor, a ventilator, an ultrasound – that’s all information that takes a lot of bandwidth moving around and across various terrains and weather patterns,” Khan says.

This technology is likely between three and five years away from implementation, Khan explains. When STARS adapts the data transmission technology, it could become the first airborne user in Canada.

It’s commitment to new technologies like this that ensures STARS remains at the forefront when it comes to care in the air. www.stars.ca

FAST FORWARD WHAT’S ON THE HORIZON FOR STARS?

By Tricia Radison Several emerging technologies might be used to make the organization even more efficient and effective.

Personal locating devices: Using satellite technology, these could be used by people working alone at remote sites to let STARS know exactly where they are. Some will send out an alert if the wearer falls unconscious.

Video: Emergency room physicians may soon be able to see the patient in the helicopter, making it easier to work with first-responders and other emergency personnel.

Refined geographic mapping (or GIS): STARS is working at cataloguing the names for countless roads, trails and campgrounds throughout rural Alberta into the GIS system. By consolidating references in remote locations, including hunter and hiker references, trail references, parking lot numbers and names and industry road names, this will minimize the potential to respond to an incorrect location.

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FUNDING FOR THE FUTURE TECHNOLOGY IS HELPING STARS REACH OUT TO NEW DONORS, BUT IT WILL NEVER REPLACE UNWAVERING GRASSROOTS SUPPORT

By Jim Veenbaas

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rent Yaschuk has homes in Calgary and Houston and routinely criss-crosses the continent promoting his business. The 33-year-old entrepreneur might be on the road for weeks on end, but will drop it all for STARS Air Ambulance.

Yaschuk has a reason for this allegiance. He credits the emergency service for saving his life following a waterskiing accident on May 14, 2005 at Little Bow Lake, near Vulcan. “Somehow, I took a fall and my friends found me face down in the water, with my waterskis still attached to both feet,” Yaschuk says. “They called it a near drowning. I can’t remember exactly what happened, but I have a 10-millimetre dent on the left side of my skull and my brain was bounced around quite a bit.”

“STARS took me to the Foothills Medical Centre in 20 minutes, which would have much longer by ground. I woke up a week later and ended up in the hospital for 33 days with a brain injury. If it wasn’t for the quick response of STARS, I don’t know what would have happened. I’ve been given another chance at life because of STARS.” People like Yaschuk are living proof that STARS saves lives, and former patients, their friends, families and communities, have become some of the organization’s staunchest supporters. More than 450 volunteers, many of them former patients, gladly sell lottery tickets and calendars, go to golf tournaments or whatever it takes to support the organization and ensure its survival.

“Nobody communicates better as to what we do than our former patients telling their stories,” says Erin Sharp, Director of New Initiatives for the STARS Foundation. “They really make it come to life for our donors. For us, it’s all about building strong and positive relationships with our donors, and former patients like Brent are truly inspirational. Brent and other patients are always willing to spread the word.”

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Fundraising is critical to the future of STARS, which operates five helicopters from bases in Calgary, Edmonton and Grande Prairie. The cost of maintaining the five helicopters, flight crews, health professionals and infrastructure to support 1,400 missions annually – has risen to $25 million a year. The government covers 25 per cent of the total mission costs, leaving the rest of its budget to be financed with donations.

“We have a new 10-year funding relationship with the province, but fundraising is extremely significant,” says Al Buchignani, Board Chairman for the STARS Society. “When you look at the mission of STARS, the cause is just so good.

The benefits it brings to this province are beyond belief.

We’ve been very fortunate that most of our fundraisers have been successful, but you can’t take it for granted or simply expect people to donate.”

The underlying support for STARS is phenomenal.

With over 20,000 missions since it was established in 1985, STARS has flown to virtually every community in the province. In fact, one in 10 Albertans either knows someone who has been flown by STARS or has received assistance directly from STARS. That creates tremendous support from donors, but fundraising for STARS is more than dollars and cents.

The organization wants to continue to create a strong connection with donors and build lifelong relationships. That was the motivation behind Red Ring for Life, a fundraising program that was launched in June as part of the organization’s 25th anniversary. For a $5 donation each month or a one-time pledge of $60, donors receive a distinctive red ring that identifies them as a STARS supporter. “We wanted to create a symbol of the many hands involved in a life-saving mission,” says Sharp. “Everyone is part of what we do, from the bystander who observes a collision and makes the initial call to 911, to our patients who come back and volunteer for us, to our donors who support us, to the members of the fire departments and EMS in rural communities.”

HORIZONS

www.redringforlife.ca

RING LEADERS: Dr. Greg Powell and Linda Powell with patients who took part in the Red Ring for Life campaign: (second from left) Brent Yaschuk, Maureen McCarthy, Becky Ibbotson, Stacey Brady, Jim Rich and Fran Nykoluk

“Fundraising, first and foremost, is about relationMore than 800 rings have been snatched up, and STARS hopes the number will eventually climb to 20,000. ships,” says Sharp. “It’s about the connection we have to The rings, which symbolize survival, courage and recov- our donors and how donors feel about our organization ery, give people a unique opportunity to identify with each and our mission. How do we get to know our supportother and share their stories, while supporting STARS fi- ers better and how do they get to know us better? Some nancially. Jim Rich jumped at the opportunity to share his people prefer to speak to us on Facebook and that’s story and participate in the Red Ring for Life campaign. great. There’s some wonderful stories from donors and patients that are coming up Rich is a member of the Royal Caon the Facebook page. People nadian Legion in Innisfail, which FUNDRAISING IS about the are sharing their stories and has donated more than $200,000 connection we have to our communicating with each to STARS. Rich learned firsthand donors and how donors feel other.” the importance of those donaInto the future, such new tions in July 2009 when he suf- about our organization and endeavours will allow STARS fered multiple heart attacks. our mission. to reach out to the next genBy the time he had his second heart attack, Rich was already in the hospital in Red Deer. eration of supporters. “It’s really important to commuSTARS was called in to whisk him away to the Foothills nicate with younger audiences and that’s something we Medical Centre in Calgary. He had surgery immediately haven’t been able to do traditionally,” says Sharp. “Social and was stabilized by that afternoon. “I would have been networking provides a new format for those discussions. in horrendous pain for the longest time if it wasn’t for There’s so much communication technology out there STARS,” Rich says. “Even before my incident, I’ve known that we are trying to understand and integrate as quickly so many people who have been flown by STARS. Now I as we can.”

Although technology will play an ever-increasing role truly understand the difference it can make in someone’s life. Being involved in this fundraising program is the least in the future of fundraising, it will never replace the personal relationships between former patients, donors and I can do.”

Programs like the Red Ring for Life are born from a STARS. Ultimately, the emergency service is all about culture of innovation that is nurtured throughout the saving lives and nothing is more compelling than former organization. Regular-scheduled brainstorming sessions patients telling their stories. People like Yaschuk feel privhave sparked some of the group’s most creative fundraising ileged to lend their support to the organization.

“I felt compelled to tell everyone about STARS and campaigns. It’s not enough to simply rely on old formulas.

STARS is always looking for better ways to communicate my story,” he says. “STARS is such a fabulous organizawith its diverse set of supporters. That mindset sparked the tion and they touch so many people in Alberta. I feel recent creation of a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ everyone should be donating to STARS. I’m totally dediSTARSairambulance, which already has more than 2,600 cated. If they say, ‘Brent, we need you over here for a golf members. This is in addition to efforts by the organization tournament, or to share your story with people,’ I will be to use text messaging, Twitter and other communication on the first plane to Calgary. My involvement is not day to day, but I always want to help.” technology. www.stars.ca

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A TEAM EFFORT T

here is no typical MISSION. Each situation has many variables and potential outcomes and the process of transporting critically ill or injured rural patients to urban facilities continues to evolve. But here’s what one call might look like.

THE LINK: Communication specialist Karen Walker takes RAAPID North’s call to STARS THE TAKEOFF: The air medical crew boards the helicopter THE RESCUE: The team find and tend to the patient, before taking him to hospital

ROLLOVER! A car and an SUV collide near Edson.

One of the occupants of the SUV calls 911; the sole occupant of the car, which has rolled over, is seriously injured.

Ground ambulance is dispatched.

RED PATIENT: On the way to the medical facility in Edson by ambulance, EMS reports that the patient from the rollover has taken a turn for the worse. He has multiple broken bones, a head injury and is now having trouble breathing.

LINKS TO SURVIVAL: In Edson, the physician on duty thinks the patient needs treatment in a facility with the resources to cope with his multiple injuries. She calls RAAPID North, a call centre designed as a single point of contact for physicians in northern Alberta. RAAPID stands for Referral, Access, Advice, Placement, Information and Destination. When RAAPID North gets a call dealing with a critical (or “red”) patient, it contacts STARS. The rural red patient referral process is activated, bringing together the STARS Emergency Link Centre (ELC) and medical transport resource team members for a conference call.

The STARS Referral Emergency Physician (REP) is brought into the call to facilitate the decision to transport, in consultation with the sending and receiving physicians. This particular call results in a STARS dispatch request.

REP: “Basically, the REP facilitates the safe and efficient transport of critically ill and injured patients in collaboration with all the stakeholders,” says Dr. Mark MacKenzie, Air Ambulance Medical Director and one of about 40 REPs in the province. This time, the STARS REP determines that

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the patient needs his care aboard the flight. REPs accompany the crew aboard about 20 per cent of STARS’ missions.

CHOPPER: The REP picks up four units of blood and boards the red BK-117 helicopter for Edson, along with a critical care nurse, paramedic and two pilots who staff each flight. The team alerts the hospital in Edmonton about what kind of care the incoming patient is likely to need.

LANDING PAD: The STARS medical and aviation crew safely deliver the patient to hospital in Edmonton. The helicopter and its crew head back to the base, awaiting the next call.

It’s been a team effort, with members of the chain of survival helping every step of the way.

HORIZONS

Former STARS’ patients Kelly Hulstein and Jason MacLeod unveil the new STARS Community Support logo

and partners in government, the corporate

OUR COVER: It takes a team to care for a patient like Jason MacLeod. STARS President and CEO Dr. Greg Powell (left) was one of the founders of STARS 25 years ago, and with the support of donors like Stephen Wuori (centre), STARS has flown over 20,000 missions.

Wuori is President, Liquid Pipelines at Enbridge and also a former STARS Board chairman. Also pictured are Bonnie Sproule, flight nurse on Jason’s 2001 mission, along with first responders Marshal Michaluk (Canmore Fire-EMS Services) and Tim Kelly (Exshaw Fire Department).