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Ceremony marks opening of new helipad in Estevan

On Sept. 17, the helipad at St. Joseph's Hospital became certified by Transport Canada, marking it as the first certified helipad in the province.
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On Sept. 17, the helipad at St. Joseph's Hospital became certified by Transport Canada, marking it as the first certified helipad in the province.

A ceremony was held on the helipad last Friday, as a STARS air ambulance helicopter touched down on it, and then it was officially opened with a ribbon cutting. Attending the event were a number of individuals and organizations involved in the project, with representation from the City of Estevan, surrounding rural municipalities and the Sun Country Regional Health Authority.

Marlin LeBlanc, whose life was saved thanks to the expediency of STARS, acted as an honourary guest by cutting the ribbon.

Greg Hoffort, executive director of St. Joseph's, said no matter the weather or time of year there will be a landing pad that is clear and has direct access to the emergency ward.

"It's that much quicker and efficient and with less risks, so that we can get a patient from our hospital to Regina General," said Hoffort, who noted the journey is 45 minutes by air, where it was two hours by road without STARS.

He said that time will only decrease as the landing pad in Regina is slated for completion later this fall.

"Another absolutely essential element to the whole program is to complete that project (in Regina)," he said.

The STARS ambulance previously landed on a road by the hospital, and the road had to be shutdown each time with Estevan Police and Fire Rescue Services personnel on scene.

"We're absolutely excited about this," said Estevan Mayor Roy Ludwig. "Now we don't have to have the fire and police out guarding."

Now, gates providing access to the hospital parking lot are closed each time the STARS helicopter must land, and all EMS and maintenance employees at the hospital are certified heliport operators who have been trained in how to make sure each landing is done securely and quickly.

"These people respond to every request we have and every need we have in our building," said Hoffort. "Here we throw another one at them. They are now heliport operators. I doubt that any of them expected when they were hired that they were going to be a heliport operator."

There are three heliport managers on staff. A typical landing will involve two operators, one to secure access to the hospital and one to limit vehicle access to that area.

"With the coal mine and the power plants and all that we have going in the oilfield, to say nothing of all the farming, we just couldn't be happier that we were able to get this service with the STARS helicopter," said Ludwig. "A lot of thanks has to be given to the people who made this happen. That would be Marga (Cugnet) with the region and Greg Hoffort and all the hard work the local board has done to go above and beyond to get our local contractors on side and to get it done in the necessary time to make this project complete."

The helipad was crafted and poured by Turnbull Excavating Ltd. with a help of a large donation by the Estevan Rotary Club, which provided $20,000 to the roughly $400,000 project. The project was largely government funded.

Cugnet, the Sun Country CEO, called the helipad "another important link in the chain of survival.

"It's very critical to have these helipads available for providing safer service. They can land in any area in the province, but to be able to land on a helipad that makes it much easier to access our patients within the emergency room," Cugnet added. "There are two key components (to the STARS service). One is that they actually bring staff with them, very highly qualified health professionals."

The STARS team can deal with trauma patients or those who are critically ill. The second key component is speed.

"Time is of an essence in several different critical events. We always refer to the Golden Hour, and this will certainly get our patients to Regina much quicker," said Cugnet, noting that hour refers to the time of injury and when a patient is stabilized.

STARS pilot Clark Jule spoke briefly at the ceremony, commenting on the increased efficiency and safety of patient transfers between Estevan and Regina. Accompanying Jule were STARS paramedics Darcy McKay and flight nurses Denise Trelevan and Thomas Froh.

The helipad's base director is Trevor Mitchell, and ground staff onsite for the Friday event included Kelly Brossart and Tara Oliver.