Whereas none of the new or existing level 3 trauma hospital construct plan in rural British Columbia include plans or designs for onsite helipads; And whereas due to an absence of onsite hospital helipads, rural BC trauma patients experience delayed access to level 3 trauma hospitals: Therefore be it resolved that UBCM lobby the Province of BC consult and engage with affected local governments with respect to the construction and development of future level 3 and above trauma hospital helipads.
Ministry of Health There are many requirements from Transport Canada for constructing and operating a hospital heliport including flight patterns, lighting, and whether the hospital is in a residential area. Hospital based helipads can be quite disruptive to daily hospital operations due to the noise, vibration, potential for flying debris and exhaust fumes. There is also risk of impact to the hospital, patients, and staff in the event of a crash during landing or take-off. Transport Canada certification of hospital heliports has become increasingly difficult over the past 10 years. In most cases, hospitals in rural areas are located within 5-10 minutes of an airport. Airports are much better equipped to safely and efficiently accommodate helicopter landings and take-offs 24 hours a day. Regardless of whether a helicopter lands at a hospital or an airport, BC Ambulance Service is required to load and unload patients and transport them to the hospital. Hospitals in rural settings tend to have very few instances of patients arriving or transferring by helicopter. When they do, the patients tend not to be in extreme critical condition; many are able to walk off the helicopter under their own power. Those patients that are in extremely critical condition are transferred to a fixed-wing aircraft and flown to a L1 or L2 trauma centre which tend to be located in larger urban centres like Kamloops, Victoria or Vancouver.