STARS air ambulance adds new helicopter to fleet

The air ambulance service that flies overSaskatchewan has added a new helicopter to itsfleet, with a nod to Rod Gantefoer, the former Saskatchewan politician who was key in establishing the service in the province.

STARS (Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service) Air Ambulance officially unveiled thenewAirbus H145 helicopterin Regina on Tuesday,though it actuallyentered service in the province weeks ago and had actually been unveiled to the public a day earlierinMelfort, Gantefoer's hometown.

On the side of the new helicopter, just below the door to the cockpit, is the registration "C-GFRG." The last three letters standfor "founder Rod Gantefoer."

"It's not about the people that are providing the service, it's about the people they're providing services to, or for," said Gantefoer, who was the Melfort area's MLA from 1995 to 2011 and served as finance minister.

Influenced by a rescue in Alberta that he witnessed, he returnedto Saskatchewan with the hopes of bringing a similar service here.

Carrie Derin thanked him for his efforts in a speech, recounting some recent milestones in her life she may have missed had she not been rescued by STARS after a life-threatening ATV accident in 2012.

"We've been fortunate to witness our oldest daughter graduate high school and move into adulthood, teach our youngest to drive. Myhusband and I will be celebrating our 28th wedding anniversary this fall," Derin said.

"These are all firsts that I may have missed had it not been for STARS."

The helicopter unveiled in Saskatchewan this week is the fifth of 10 medically equipped helicopters needed to replace the air ambulance's fleet across Western Canada, STARS said.

The new fleet of helicopterswill replace two other models of aircraft that STARS says are becoming outdated.

The Airbus was the most recent investment in the service's upgraded fleet, at a cost of about $13 million per aircraft.

In 2018, the Saskatchewan government announced $13 million in funding for the new fleet. In2019, the federal budget allocated another $65 millionfor STARS, which provides air ambulance services inAlberta,Manitoba and parts of British Columbia, as well as Saskatchewan.