By Charlene Tebbutt

Pattison Agriculture donates to STARS Air Ambulance

Jun 4, 2018 | 4:34 PM

STARS Air Ambulance was recognized Monday for their work to help victims of April’s fatal bus crash involving the Humboldt Broncos.

Representatives with STARS were in Humboldt Monday to accept a cheque for $100,000 from the team at Pattison Agriculture. Cindy Seidl, provincial director of operations and a flight nurse with the non-profit air ambulance service, said the donation will go toward fuel and maintenance for their fleet of emergency medical aircraft.

“It’s going to make such a huge difference for us, to our program,” Seidl said. “Half of our operating budget annually comes from fundraising, and this will go such a long way in order to help us provide that critical care in rural Saskatchewan.”

STARS Air Ambulance was among the medical and emergency personnel to respond the night of April 6 following the bus crash near Tisdale that killed 16 people and injured several more. Seidl told paNOW that three helicopters flew out to the site, with one making two trips that evening. In all, the three helicopters were able to transport four critically-ill patients following the crash, and bring four transport doctors to the area with three going on to Nipawin and one headed for Tisdale to provide support for medical staff in those communities.

“Certainly, STARS is one link in the chain of survival and I’m just so incredibly grateful that we were able to provide support and assistance to those communities and this team that we were that day, because it was a pretty wide-spread response, and we just feel very fortunate that we were there to help and provide the care that those patients needed at that time,” Seidl added.

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Arthur Ward, president of Pattison Agriculture, said $25,000 of the donation came from the dealership – including the charitable arms of John Deere Canada and John Deere in the United States – with the rest coming from fundraising and the sale of Humboldt Broncos merchandise. The dealership sold specially-designed hats to help raise funds, he added.

Ward said the team at Pattison Agriculture wanted to recognize STARS for their efforts following the tragic crash.

“For us, it’s humbling and Saskatchewan is home for us and a lot of us have spent a lot of hours on hockey buses and football buses and baseball buses and band trips and everything else,” Ward said Monday in Humboldt.

“And we know that there’s remote areas that if people, when they get into trouble and they need some help, hopefully this money will help STARS continue to do their work.”

paNOW is owned by the Jim Pattison Group, which also owns Pattison Agricultural.

Charlene.tebbutt@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @CharleneTebbutt