It’s one of the most critical paramedic services in the province and yesterday (March 19th) crew members from STARS Air Ambulance provided a glimpse of their work.

With the homestretch for their annual lottery in full swing, STARS offered a tour to members of the media to see firsthand what exactly they do.

Flight Paramedic Scott McTaggart was called to an incident during his interview but was able to talk about the role STARS plays in emergency situations.

“STARS in Alberta ends up flying approximately five times a day between Grand Prairie, Calgary and Edmonton. What we do is we assist ground EMS, the hospitals in transporting critically ill patients.”

When the STARS helicopter is in the air, the behind the scenes work takes place at the Emergency Links Centre, where call takers communicate much-needed information to the paramedics, fire and police.

Critical Patient Call Taker Jenny Felsman says the services of STARS goes a long way to helping patients outside of Calgary including Airdrie and their rural neighbours.

“You get the rapid transport so whether it’s a rural call or on the highways coming in. [If] there’s accident during rush hour we can now get to you and get you to, like, the Foothills, instead of being stuck in traffic so the rapid transport is huge for those areas.”

Felsman also pointed out that without the support of donors, the Emergency Links Centre, as well as STARS as a whole, would not exist.

That’s also what Chief Financial Officer, Jeffrey Quick pointed out, with around 80% of their funds coming through donations, every cent counts.

Despite the recent economic downturn, Quick says they’ve still received the much-needed support.

“We’ve seen things sort of steady the last few years and it’s critically important. The lottery is one of our largest fundraisers at $11 million that we usually net annually and that supports one base here in Alberta. It’s very, very important that we sell out by this Thursday”

Quick mentioned that the lottery this year is over 80% sold and they foresee no problems in selling out.

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