Client:Service Development
Date:May 29, 2012 ​

BC Ambulance Service (BCAS) has selected two successful proponents to provide six fixed-wing aircraft to transfer patients throughout the province to higher levels of care.

BCAS will now enter negotiations with Carson Air, which will provide two turboprop airplanes each based in Kelowna and Vancouver and a jet based in Vancouver, and Northern Thunderbird (NT) Air, which will provide one turboprop airplane based in Prince George.

“The aircraft secured for the new contracts include safety upgrades such as advanced navigational technology and an enhanced vision system which provides improved situational awareness in all phases of flight,” said Les Fisher, BCAS Chief Operating Officer. “This system, which is currently installed in our 24/7 helicopters in Vancouver and Prince Rupert, greatly enhances safety especially during night landings at rural airfields which is an important part of provincial air ambulance service.”

“BCAS also conducts regular safety and performance audits with all of our dedicated fixed-wing and rotary air ambulance contractors and our paramedics, dispatchers and managers have daily contact with the providers which helps ensure that the service is safe and reliable,” adds Fisher.

The contracts have an estimated annual value of $18.8 million with annual Consumer Price Index increases over the term. The new contract term is for five years with the option to renew for three additional years; the existing contracts expire on June 30, 2012. The RFP was developed with input from BCAS paramedics and managers, industry representatives, Transport Canada and the Transportation Safety Board and evaluated by BCAS subject-matter and industry experts. Seven bids were originally submitted to BCAS.

BCAS upgraded the fixed-wing aircraft fleet in 2006 from five to six airplanes and also currently utilizes four dedicated air ambulance helicopters. BCAS also has additional air ambulance support through the use of approximately 40 pre-qualified charter aircraft carriers located throughout the province.

In June, BCAS will expand the Early Fixed Wing Activation Program throughout the North. This program enables paramedic activation of a critical care transport team and aircraft when they arrive at the scene of a 911 call and determine that the patient may need to be air-lifted to a higher level of care. Previously, emergency department physicians were the only people who could initiate a critical care paramedic transport team and aircraft. This early activation reduces the time it takes to get a patient to definitive care. The program was launched in the Terrace area in March 2012.

In 2011/12, BCAS’s Critical Care Transport Program transferred 7,732 patients using air ambulance aircraft – 5,568 by fixed-wing aircraft. Call volumes have remained relatively stable over the last several years.

BCAS conducts ongoing analysis of its Critical Care Transport Program to keep pace with changing patient care needs, aviation technologies, safety systems and training and undertakes annual reviews of fees and fuel costs to ensure British Columbians are receiving full value for their investment in this key health care service.

For More Information
News Release: Successful Proponents Renew Fixed-Wing Air Ambulance Service