For a few weeks now the skies of Prince Rupert have been echoing with the sound of helicopter blades whirling above the city, criss crossing the harbour area and arriving and departing at the Seal Cove landing site.
Wednesday's Daily News finally delivered the answer as to what was going on, as Vancouver Island Helicopters began using a temporary replacement for the regular Bell air ambulance in use around the North Coast.
The new aircraft, the Spirit of Victoria has been providing services to the area while the refit takes place for the usual VIH helicopter is being upgraded.
The full details of the temp were featured in Wednesday's paper.
New medical 'copter is watching over area
Helicopter and crew are here to help out
By George T. Baker
The Daily News
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Page three
Up in the sky a new bird is making an appearance over Rupertites' heads.
A blue and white Spirit of Victoria C-FHCH helicopter will be flying from Seal Cove to points beyond the Rupert harbour to help those in medical need in rural areas of the North Coast to get the emergency medical services they need.
The crew, which comes from points around B. C. and as far away as Newfoundland, seem to be enjoying themselves in their temporary surroundings.
"I like it here - except for the rain - and it's been an enjoyable time," said pilot Troy Russel, who is living, temporarily at least, in a local hotel, while he helps pilot the replacement medivac helicopter.
The Spirit of Victoria was brought in because the local medical evacuation helicopter operator BIH is retrofitting its Bell helicopter so that it fulfills its requirements for the new B. C. Air Ambulance Service safety measures.
The local helicopter will be given a new flight Global Positioning System (GPS) so that it can be monitored at all times from the VIH office and it will be given a powerful new search light so that it can see through even the foggiest of evenings. In fact, the light is powerful enough to burn a two-by-four piece of wood and the crew will have to turn the light off as they come close to landing.
On Thursday, the crew operating the borrowed helicopter was off to Port Simpson where a medical emergency was dealt with quickly and safely. Part of that could be because the Cougar helicopter has ample space to provide the necessary amount of care for emergencies.
Cougar normally operates its helicopters to help with search and rescue missions around oil rigs in Alaska and Northern Canada. But because this is the off season for some of the work being done in Tuktoyaktuk, NWT, the helicopter is normally contracted out around the country for medical evacuations.
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