STARS and District of Taylor celebrate 20 years of partnership

TAYLOR, B.C. — An Alberta-based medical support company is celebrating 20 years of partnership with northern B.C. communities.  

During a June 1st District of Taylor council meeting,  Shock Trauma and Air Response (STARS) presented its annual report to the council, which included a milestone. 

“We thank you for 20 years, and we’re coming up on….the 20th anniversary this year on December 1st of having a base in Grande Prairie to serve northern residents and your entire area,” said Glenda Farnden, Seniors Municipal Relations Liaison with STARS, during the council meeting. 

STARS was created in 1985 by Dr. Greg Powell.

“[Powell] at the time…was the chief of emergency medicine at Foothills Hospital in Calgary…he was presented with a young woman who had just given birth….she bled to death because she could not get to tertiary care in time and this greatly disturbed [Powell] and he said something has to be done, and STARS was born,” Farnden said. 

Farnden explained how STARS works to provide care across Western Canada.

“[A] really key aspect, especially for your area, any rural areas, is the fact that STARS is borderless,” she said. “All 10 helicopters and all crew members across all borders across Western Canada.” 

“We responded last year to the rock slide incident at Banff,” Farnden said. “In the past six or seven years, there have been some very high-level multiple casualty accidents in all provinces across Western Canada, and we have been able to provide interprovincial multiple helicopter response from all different bases.”

According to the report, STARS has completed 85 missions in the Peace River Regional District (PRRD) in the last five years, including four near Taylor. 

During the meeting, the council discussed the importance of STARS. 

“The Peace River Regional District is a massive area….there’s a lot of remote work sites in the Peace River Regional District,” said District of Taylor mayor Brent Taillefer. 

“Also, we have a major highway that runs through here, and there’s incidents when STARS has and will respond to give support to those incidents, so it’s important to have them here to help people that are in need,” Taillefer said.

District councillor Michelle Turbull stated she was a “big supporter” of STARS because a friend of hers “wouldn’t be here today” if it weren’t for the service. 

Since debuting in 1985, STARS has flown over 63,000 missions, 80 per cent of which involve cardiac missions.