At about 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 15, STARS air ambulance was on its way to Westman. The message on Stars Twitter account said, “STAR-7 (Winnipeg) has been dispatched for a scene call emergency in the Arrow River, MB area.”
To date, the only information we have is that a CN employee was struck by a train, and survived the incident.
Sometime after 2 p.m. STARS helicopter could be heard overhead in the town of Hamiota as the red chopper landed near the high school, north of the truck wash along Highway 21.
Meeting STARS was at least one, and perhaps a second, ambulance. Along with RCMP presence, Fire Department, and the STARS team were on the ground for a while (possibly re-fueling) before STARS lifted off around 2:45 p.m.
STARS requires re-fueling when it arrives in the Arrow River/Hamiota area. The RM of Pipestone has the capability to refuel this helicopter, with a mobile fuel tank specially for that purpose.
During the last two weeks of March, STARS flights served emergency situations for Westman in the communities of Rivers, Shoal Lake and Alexander as well as Dauphin and other points around the province.