STARS Air Ambulance has officially unveiled two brand new helicopters that have been added to their fleet.

The Airbus H145 comes with a price tag of $13 million and boasts state of the art technology.

STARS President and CEO Andrea Robertson says eventually Western Canada will have nine of the new helicopters in the fleet. She says the decision was made to upgrade the current 34-year-old fleet because the older versions are becoming costlier to maintain.

Robertson says the total cost of the upgrade program is $117 million. Both the provincial and federal governments have committed funding to the program, however more funds will still need to be raised over the next few years.

Robertson says the pilots and air medical crew have been undergoing comprehensive flight training for the new helicopters.

“When you’re with us, you’re critically ill, and we don’t want to be thinking, we want to be just doing,” she says about the importance of getting the entire crew up to speed.

Flight Paramedic Greg Barton, who has been with STARS for 18 years, says among other features, the new Airbus H145 has on board WiFi which will enable them to provide real-time data to flight physicians and ultimately provide better patient care.

Captain John Carson says the new helicopters will provide a smoother, faster ride.

Robertson says the hope is to have the new helicopters responding to emergencies and lifting patients by the Summer. Until then, she says the current fleet is still more than capable.

Between 2017 and 2018, STARS responded to 4 missions in Airdrie and 6 in Cochrane.

 

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