Saskatchewan Air Ambulance celebrates 70 years

By Colin Kunkel | September 27, 2016

On Sept. 20, representatives of Saskatchewan Air Ambulance, the Saskatoon Health Region and the Saskatchewan government gathered in Saskatoon to help mark the 70th anniversary of air ambulance service in the province.

Launched as a lifeline in a rural province, which boasted few major highways during the late 1940s, Saskatchewan Air Ambulance is the oldest formally organized non-military air ambulance service in North America. It plays a pivotal role in the transport of critically ill and injured patients, ensuring they receive the best medical treatment possible.

“Our government is committed to ensuring that Saskatchewan people have timely access to the health services they need, no matter where they live,” said rural and remote health minister Greg Ottenbreit, who attended the open house. “We have been well served over the past seven decades by the dedicated men and women of Saskatchewan Air Ambulance.”

On average, Saskatchewan Air Ambulance will fly 125 missions every month and this past fiscal year the service flew 1,518 flights, ranging from patient transfers to full critical care emergency flights. Saskatchewan Air Ambulance was initially based out of Regina, but moved operations to Saskatoon’s John G. Diefenbaker Airport in 1993 to better serve more isolated communities in northern Saskatchewan.

What began in 1946 with a single, surplus Norseman, has grown into a 24-hour operation, supported by three Beechcraft King Air 200s, along with 29 pilots and first officers; 37 registered nurses and flight medics, and nine aero-medical engineers and support staff.

Ottenbreit noted that Saskatchewan Air Ambulance is a large part of Saskatchewan’s rich aviation history. “To have the first civilian air ambulance service outside of [the military], is something quite amazing in North America, and it was developed in Saskatchewan.”