Air Ambulance Idea Overdue

(Aired on August 5, 2010)

A new air ambulance service will soon be in place, dedicated to helping move seriously ill patients from rural areas to hospitals in larger centres. It's an idea whose time is long overdue.

The air ambulance service has been in place before, but not, perhaps, in such a dedicated way. The service announced late last month involves transporting patients by helicopter to larger hospitals like Royal Inland. While there will be no dedicated helicopters devoted specifically to this initiative, several companies contracted by the province will be able to provide the service. They'll transport paramedics to the accident site, allow the paramedics to provide treatment, then transport the patients if necessary to trauma centres for followup.

The only real criticism I have is the fact that the government is only going to try this out for 8 weeks. If it's effective, it will become a full time deal. But I wonder how you can honestly say two months is long enough. If the summer causes more cases because more accidents happen in the summer, will that give a false reading? Would we keep the service based on false numbers? Conversely, would we deny keeping the service because the next 8 weeks are relatively slow, with many gone outside the area for holidays. A minimum of six months for any type of study is about the least we should be putting in place for a fair assessment.

I can't see the cost being overly excessive. Let's face it, if we're contracting out these companies on a per-trip basis, it can't be that huge unless there are actual cases to deal with. Let's do the survey right, and make sure it's working or not working before we make a final decision. I think that's the least we can do. Otherwise we're just paying lip service to a very valuable aid in keeping people alive.