New airstrip near city eyed for northern Medevac services

The county is pausing its campaign to lobby the provincial government on keeping the Ed­monton Municipal Air­port Edmonton City Centre Airport open for air ambulances.

The decision comes in light of Deputy Premier Doug Horner's recent announcement that the province is in discussion with the Department of National Defence about using an airstrip at the Edmonton Garrison for Medevac flights.

The Garrison is closer to a hospital than some of the other options being considered, like the Edmonton International Airport, officials with Lac La Biche County pointed out.

"Given that the pro­vince may be addressing the concerns of northern communities that rely on Medevac services, ad­ministration is recommending that the situation be monitored for the time being," stated a report prepared by Shadia Amblie, the county's Interim Director of Communications.

Councillors had accepted these recommendations at a regular meeting on Feb. 14.

But the discussions to use the garrison are in their very early stages and there is no timeline for them, said John Tuckwell, a spokesperson for the Alberta Health and Wellness.

"They are very preliminary conversations," Tuckwell said. "We're looking at all options in the Edmonton area."

Lac La Biche County started the $93,000 campaign last fall because of concerns about the effects the closure of Edmonton City Centre Airport would have on medical services. The airport is close to the Royal Alexandra Hospital, and if the air ambulances were rerouted to the international airport as was being considered, the time it would take to get patients to a hospital would increase drastically, stated a report done by Health Quality Council of Alberta in April 2011. The report compared transfer times in eleven different communities and found that if services were rerouted to the international airport, Edmonton would go from having some of the best transfer times to the worst.

County officials had contacted 90 municipalities seeking support for the campaign and re­ceived support from 26 of them. They will be in touch with the municipalities, and will hold off on lobbying the provincial government with their concerns.