Rural hospital Freakouts!

[JoelEMT]

yeah, we have Helos here, but that being said they don't always fly (weather etc). For the whole province of Alberta (as far as I know) there are only 5 Dedicated helos - 2 in Calgary, 2 in Edmonton and (I believe) a recent addition of 1 more for the Grand Prairie area. There are several fixed wing sites and services but usually are too slow to arrange in emergent settings as described in the situation. (The second helos in both Edmonton and Calgary are usually not manned and are used as mechanical spares.)

Alberta is a Very Large chunk of land - 255,285 square miles (661,190 square kilometres), of which 6,485 square miles are freshwater. It is 756 miles (1,216 kilometres) in extent from north to south and 404 miles across at the greatest width.

And only 5 choppers for the whole of it and a total of 1,149 missions flown in 2005.

See the STARS (Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society) website for more information. www.stars.ca