STARS 2025 Mid-Year Review

Glenda Farnden, Senior Municipal Relations Liaison, with STARS, was present at the September 9, 2025 Council Meeting, to provide a mid-year update on the organization's operations and request a continuation of the County's funding pledge for the next four years.

As of July 31, 2025, STARS was able to carry out four critical scene missions within Saddle Hills County. To date, STARS have carried out more than 65,000 missions. Approximately 300-325 missions a year are carried out from the Grande Prairie base alone. 

2025 is STARS 40th anniversary year, providing an ideal opportunity to reflect on the some of the innovations and advancements in technology that have helped to provide critical care to patients throughout rural Alberta and beyond. From new computers for the Emergency Link Centre to advanced medical training equipment, proprietary GIS mapping systems, and new H145 helicopters, the tools STARS are able to use to assist patients only continue to advance.

In the last year, STARS has implemented or trialed several new pieces of technology that play a critical role in the care that they are able to provide. Some examples of this include:

Fibreoptic Bronchoscope

In emergency situations, ensuring a patient has a secure airway is critical. In certain cases, such as when there is trauma to the airway, excessive swelling or where there is atypical anatomy, intubation can be difficult.

A Fibreoptic Bronchoscope is a bronchial camera at the end of a flexible scope that goes down the throat and allows physicians to see past the vocal cords and into the windpipe, allowing them to more easily place a breathing tube. In the last year, this device has been rolled out to all six STARS bases.

LUCAS CPR Machine

The Lund University Cardiopulmonary Assist System (LUCAS) assesses the patient's chest wall flexibility and then delivers compressions at the precise depth and rate the patient requires. Using this technology, STARS crews are able to focus on other critical tasks at hand. In the last year, the first three of these devices have been delivered and are being used in the Grande Prairie and Winnipeg bases.

TOWAR Study

STARS is participating in a TOWAR (Type O Whole blood and assessment of AGE during prehospital
Resuscitation) study led by the University of Pittsburgh, to research the possibility of whole-blood transfusions for severely injured patients early in their treatment. 

The practice of giving trauma patients whole-blood transfusions when they reach the hospital has been associated with a greater chance of survival.

Saddle Hills County has been a partner of STARS for 18 years, and has provided many donations over this time, including a $200,000 a year fixed rate donation, which was just renewed and is now due to expire in 2028. 

Since partnering with STARS, a Birchcliff Golf Tournament has been held in the County each year, to raise funds for the organization. This year, the event raised $135,000, bringing the 18 year total to $2.2 million!

Thank you to Glenda, and the entire STARS team, for all that you do to help residents of rural communities access the critical, life-saving care they need, in some of the most challenging conditions. 

STARS 2025 Mid-Year Review