July 2009 Message

On June 30th this year Alberta Health Services closed the hospital helipads at Barrhead, Castor, Consort, Didsbury, Edmonton (Royal Alexandra Hospital), Sundre, Wainwright and Westlock based on reports that the helipads did not comply with Transport Canada regulations. After determining that safety would not be compromised the helipads reopened on July 8.

Our communities have rightly questioned why the helipads were closed and then reopened. On behalf of Alberta Health Services, I want to apologize to community members, MLAs, and municipal leaders for the impact this issue has had on their communities. Given the conflicting information we have received, a comprehensive internal review of the matter has been initiated and will be concluded when Dr. Stephen Duckett returns next week. We are committed to ensuring that the right information is being shared with the right people at the right time. This clearly did not happen in this instance and we will find out where the miscommunication took place so it can be corrected and we can learn from it. Going forward, we will work closely with all the communities involved as we develop a provincial transportation plan.

The plan will include guidelines for the appropriate movement of patients across Alberta and will review each heliport on a case-by-case basis. Key factors for consideration include needs of the patient, volume of patient transfers by rotary and fixed-wing air ambulance, capabilities of the sending facility, location of receiving centre, service level of local EMS (i.e. advanced vs. basic life support), and distance from hospital to the local airport. These factors all contribute to determining the most appropriate mode of patient transportation.