City Supports H.E.R.O.S.
Prince George, B.C.- Prince George City Council has come out in favour of supporting a dedicated emergency helicopter service in Northern B.C.
The Helicopter Emergency Rescue Operations Society says northern B.C. has a much higher rate of trauma death than their lower mainland counterparts. H.E.R.O.S . says part of the reason behind that higher death rate is the response time to a crash scene.
The Society says if the response time to a crash scene could be reduced, the outcome for crash victims just might be improved.
(Image at right shows radiating time limits for arrival of helicopter – image courtesy H.E.R.O.S.)
According to H.E.R.O.S. the response times could be as follows if a Bell 429 Helicopter was used to get to a scene:
15 minutes to:
- Summit Lake,
- Lheidli T’enneh First Nation
- Purden Lake
- Hixon
- Cluculz Lake
30 minutes to:
- McLeod Lake
- Crescent Spur
- Quesnel
- Fraser Lake
- Nak’azdli First Nation
45 minutes:
- Mackenzie
- McBride
- Williams Lake
- Burns Lake,
- Cheslatta Carrier Nation
60 Minutes
- Dawson Creek
- Halfway River First Nation
- Valemount
- 100 Mile House
- Houston
In the presentation to City Council, H.E.R.O.S says Northern Health supports the idea but it offers no financial assistance to make this happen. H.E.R.O.S. Board President Brent Marshall says Northern Health doesn’t do anything “pre-hospital”, as that is the responsibility of the B.C. Ambulance service.
“For me this is not rocket science, this is a no brainer” says Councilor Albert Koehler who called on his Council colleagues to support the launching of a helicopter emergency rescue operation in 2015.
Brent Marshall says he is counting on Council to support a “very strongly worded letter” as he would like to see this project expedited “because there are lives at stake.”
So why is there a similar service in place in Kamloops and Kelowna? Well Marshall says it has more to do with politics “If you look at who is in office in those communities, you can read between the lines”. He is making a vague reference to the fact Premier Christy Clark is representing Kelowna. Marshall also says its very important that this kind of service be developed in the north because of the significant resource and industrial development that is expected to take place.
The funding model calls for a 70-30 public-private mix, with the 70% coming from industry and the balance coming from government. In Saskatchewan, one company put in $27 million to buy the chopper and the hangers.
Marshall says with $6-$7 million dollars of private support for capital investment the service could be operational in Northern B.C. tomorrow. The annual operational costs are estimated to be $4 million.
Comments
A show of support from Council, whoop de do, I’m sure that will be quite compelling to the provincial government who would have to foot the bill.
I would gladly contribute to the cause . Where can I make a donation?
He manages a car dealership, how crooked can he be. But this does sound like a good idea.
buzzinga
how crooked can he be?
you might be surprised….
ever notice in his ads he doesn’t say how good his business is just how much money he donates, like that means a lot in the end.
Wonder what his donation to the city is?
He also recently bought Remax Center City office in PG.
Wow, jealous and untrusting of a successful hard working business man. I bet you are on the teachers union side – oh wait you are! Big suprise…
Good luck Brent, this is long overdue up here.
Yup. You can always tell who the real winners are;
The ones cutting the dude down who tries to save a life or two.
LOL , really guys did you even read the last thing I put , I said it was a good idea,. And of all the donations he sends to the hospital it’s obviously a tax right off. And lastly he has bosses he does not own the dealership
Interceptor wow good job your right I am on the teachers side not I can see where all the money has been blown out to.
Hey interceptor I have no problem with the idea of HEROS….
I don’t however feel the city should be paying for it…
rather I feel that that should fall under the realm of Federal and Provincial governmnet.
I do however have a problem with the man, and a couple of concerns and questions that I won’t post here …but he knows what they are! He does seem to be more interested in bragging about how much money he is donating to charities…. I think the charities are deserving but I think he is simply feeding his ego as that seems to be his theme…”look at what I donate!”
Once the Gateway pipeline is completed we will all be rather pleased to see how much money the oil industry will throw at efforts like Heroes. They donate millions and millions in Alberta & Sask. to the STARS chopper program….
“If you look at who is in office in those communities, you can read between the lines”
Easy to say but not so easy to back up. The heli service began in 2011 for the southern interior. Christy was not yet elected in the area, she won the by-election in the summer of 2013. Terry Lake was in Kamloops and Ben Stewart was in Kelowna, so I guess this statement means they had a lot of pull within the party back then.
On behalf of Northern BC H.E.R.O.S., I would like to thank you for your support and comments.
I would also like to invite you to like us on Facebook (NorthernBCHeros) and follow us on Twitter (@nbcHEROS).
Should you have any questions in the meantime, please feel free to contact me at robertas@nbcHEROS.org. We’re extremely grateful for your support. Spread the word, donate or volunteer. Donations can be mailed to PO Box 614, Prince George, BC V2L 4S8 or through our website at http://www.nbcHEROS.org.
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