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STARS in Hamiota

STARS Air Ambulance landed in Hamiota at one minute to midnight, Sunday evening, August 14, in response to an accident in the area.
STARS
STARS Air Ambulance in the Winnipeg hangar in May of 2013, two years after the Manitoba government first signed a 10-year agreement with ShockTrauma Air Rescue Society (STARS). A view into the helicopter shows advanced equipment; tests, scans and ultrasound images from this unit can be sent right to a physician’s phone.

STARS Air Ambulance landed in Hamiota at one minute to midnight, Sunday evening, August 14, in response to an accident in the area.

Cameron Heke, STARS spokesperson explained the mission was to transport “a patient who sustained serious injuries from an ATV rollover. The STARS crew landed in a field adjacent to the Hamiota Collegiate where the STARS nurse and paramedic departed the aircraft and were taken by ground ambulance to the health center.” 

The injured person had been transported to the Hamiota Health Centre by ground ambulance.

On this weekend, Hamiota’s emergency department service was open.

Skies over Hamiota were shrouded in heavy clouds with zigzag lightning bolts and rain threatening.

Considering this weather, the pilots made a decision not to transport the injured person by air. STARS team travelled with the patient to Health Sciences Centre, Winnipeg, via ground ambulance.

“We have a full response planned out,” explained Heke. “Also Winnipeg [weather is considered] because we have to come back to Winnipeg. We factor in all these decisions very quickly.”

He explained that a patient may be kept at a hospital to wait for the STARS crew, rather than being immediately dispatched by ground ambulance to Winnipeg. 

Heke says the type of care required is one of the reasons STARS is called. “Also, a matter not always understood,” continues Heke, “we bring a critical care nurse, sometimes a doctor, and medics trained to offer critical care. High level care starts the moment STARS lands.”

STARS also carries a supply of blood. This level of service in Manitoba was put into practice in January 2016, meaning the team is prepared to give a blood transfusion on the hour-long flight (Hamiota to Winnipeg).

“This year, 15 patients just in Manitoba have already received blood,” said Heke.

One year ago, in August, 2015 STARS landed in Hamiota’s high school soccer pitch to transport an accident victim.

STARS answered one other call, making three calls to Hamiota since last August.

In total for the 2015-16 fiscal year ending March 31, 568 missions were flown out of STARS base in Winnipeg. Twice they landed in Virden and one time in Souris.

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