Helipad serves over 30 patients in first year of service
PHOTO. Helicopter H135 performing a medevac in Janvier, about 95 kilometres south of Fort McMurray on the night of Dec. 12, 2019. Supplied by the Local HERO Foundation/Twitter.
The helipad at the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre served 35 patients in 2019.
Air ambulance responses were for calls within the region, ranging from Fort Chipewyan, south to Conklin and Mariana Lake, particularly from areas not accessibly by ground EMS.
Local HERO made its first call only a week after the helipad’s opening.
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In December, during an Extreme Cold Warning from Environment Canada, Local HERO was able to rescue a male patient from Janvier.
The temperature was -35C and just inside the limit of the HERO-1 helicopter.
The helipad, which opened in March 2019, saves about 20 minutes in travel time getting the patient to care.