STARS is comparatively new in Saskatchewan starting in April 2011. They have a ten year agreement with the province to transport the right patient with the right care at the right time. STARS, a physician driven service, provides medical oversight to two types of patients:
- Red Patients who have a life threatening injury or illness as diagnosed by the host medical facility or the receiving medical facility
- Yellow patients are those patients who are currently stable but could destabilize en route to another medical facility.
The decision process to determine who is transported is very quick and occurs within 1 - 2 minutes. If there is a potential patient in Kindersley a call is placed and with a couple of minutes it will be determined if they are to be flown to Saskatoon. Kindersley will have real time access to readily available resources such as doctors and nurses. Doctors may accompany the patient on the flight depending the patient's condition or the medical personal may stay on line with physicians with remote access.
If you are transported by STARS you will land at the airport for transport to St. Pauls or Wilson's Greenhouse for RUH. Usually there is a bill for ambulance service and it is no different for STARS. The Ministry of Health, not STARS, sends a flat rate bill of $350 for transport from anywhere in Saskatchewan. You will also receive a bill for the ambulance ride to the plane or the helicopter and from the plane or helicopter to the other facility. The Saskatoon service is as busy as the services originating out of Calgary and Edmonton.
The annual budget for STARS is $21 million and is split 50-50 between STARS and the province. STARS raises there $10.5 million through fundraising.
Currently each of Regina and Saskatoon has one helicopter and recently Potash Corp purchased a larger helicopter that has the capacity to reach the northern mines. STARS is also looking at placing fuel caches in outlier communities.
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