In an emergency, minutes matter.
Island Health is looking into the possibility of reestablishing a helipad at Tofino General Hospital.
The hospital has been without a helipad since 2011, when Transport Canada produced a list of upgrades needed for it to remain in place. Since then, patients that need to be evacuated by air have been transported from the hospital by ambulance to the Long Beach Airport.
“We are currently the only hospital within Island Health’s area that does not have an onsite helipad, and it’s been a real community effort to get the helipad back to the hospital,” Tofino mayor Josie Osborne told the Westerly.
“My understanding from local physicians and Health Authority staff is that absolutely every minute matters when transporting a patient in an emergency situation, so it has been challenging to not have a helipad immediately adjacent to the hospital…Using the Long Beach Airport as an emergency medical evacuation site meant transfer time for patients and the removal of staff from the hospital itself while transferring patients, as well as less reliability for weather conditions.”
Island Health recently put out a request for proposals seeking a consultant to provide engineering drawings to redevelop the hospital’s former helipad, according to Island Health spokesperson Valerie Wilson.
“The point of the engineering drawings are to look at the redevelopment of that former helipad. So, it would be that same general site and then we would have to make sure that whatever’s built would comply with Transport Canada requirements,” she said.
She added the proposed helipad site is partially located on property owned by the Tofino General Hospital Foundation that was, until recently, earmarked for a seniors’ home.
“Prior to undertaking any upgrades, we had met with the Foundation regarding its plans for future use of the property and, at that time, the Foundation land was planned to house a potential senior’s facility and it was leased to another organization,” she said. “Recently, the Foundation informed Island Health that that lease agreement had terminated.”
She said Island Health hopes to have the helipad operational by late 2018.
Osborne said several other sites were investigated, but that choosing to upgrade the former site was “by far” the best option.
“It is the only option that eliminates the need for transfers using an ambulance, which takes time and resources, and brings with it the likelihood of removing physicians or staff from the hospital,” she said.
She added she was grateful for the collaboration between local and regional Island Health staff, the Tofino General Hospital Foundation, the area’s elected officials, local physicians and residents.
“This is a service that is not just for Tofino by any means, but one which all the region’s communities rely on,” she said. “It’s important to note that this is the kind of persistent, collective effort that it takes to improve health services, and now we need to set our sights much more strongly on the replacement of the aging hospital.”