The photo op seemed to tell a classic good news story: a beaming Premier Christy Clark, on a helipad in Kamloops surrounded by uniformed BC Air Ambulance staff, announcing a $2.35 million annual increase in helicopter air ambulance service.

But the funding increase actually further entrenches a bad news scenario for BC patients and taxpayers—the government is reinforcing an outdated, expensive model of providing air ambulance service. They are ignoring highly successful not-for-profit models in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Australia and Europe, which provide superior service for a fraction of the cost to taxpayers.

BC currently contracts two private companies—Helijet International Inc. and CC Helicopters Ltd.—at an annual cost of about $15 million to operate four dedicated helicopter air ambulances. These helicopters assist injured and ill people in emergency situations, flying them from accident scenes or between health care facilities.

Meanwhile, in Alberta, the Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society (better known as STARS), has five helicopters, with two new ones on the way. STARS’ cost to Alberta taxpayers last year: $6 million. STARS raises three-and-a-half times that amount in non-tax sources, such as a lottery, fundraising events, and corporate sponsorships.

STARS is so good that Saskatchewan and Manitoba are scrapping their for-profit air ambulance contracts and joining Alberta in a western Canadian initiative. BC is the lone holdout, sticking with the more expensive for-profit model. While that’s good for Helijet, CC, and their shareholders, it’s bad for taxpayers.

Not only is STARS cheaper, it seems to offer superior service. Unlike the BC air ambulance helicopters, which are 30-year-old designs retrofitted to carry patients, STARS’ air ambulance choppers are state of the art, specifically designed to medevac people.

In BC, paramedics cannot load or unload a patient from a helicopter while the rotor is turning, which can take as long as three minutes to stop. In Alberta, the STARS copters are designed to keep moving blades at a safe height, allowing immediate patient transfer.

The Alberta helicopters are basically flying intensive care units. They carry a pilot, a co-pilot, a nurse experienced in emergency/ICU care, an advanced life support paramedic, and a referral emergency physician trained in pre-hospital care and transport. BC air ambulances have pilots and a Critical Care Transport paramedic, but no doctors.

The two new Alberta helicopters will be able to carry two patients at once—a godsend for multiple victim accidents.

STARS has a strong base of volunteers, something a for-profit system like BC’s can’t attract. Earlier this month, STARS dropped five Calgary CEOs in the wilderness with nothing but their cell phones. They were promised a “rescue” when they each raised $100,000. The effort was hugely successful, with the executives raising $1.3 million in non-tax dollars for the charity.

B.C.'s eight year, $104 million contract with Helijet runs through April 1, 2019, with an option to renew for another four years. However, the contract does allow the Province to terminate with six months' notice. The Helijet contract was obtained through a Freedom of Information request by Hans Dysarsz, who first raised this issue with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

Over the next eight years, BC taxpayers will pay as much as $75 million more for our air ambulances than Alberta does.

If Finance Minister Kevin Falcon is serious about post-HST BC doing “more with less,” transitioning Air Ambulance service to the cheaper, better non-profit model is a good place to start. The provincial government should immediately engage STARS, or the Ontario equivalent, and begin that transition. It makes sense for patients, for government, and for taxpayers.

The photo op seemed to tell a classic good news story: a beaming Premier Christy Clark, on a helipad in Kamloops surrounded by uniformed BC Air Ambulance staff, announcing a $2.35 million annual increase in helicopter air ambulance service.

But the funding increase actually further entrenches a bad news scenario for BC patients and taxpayers—the government is reinforcing an outdated, expensive model of providing air ambulance service. They are ignoring highly successful not-for-profit models in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Australia and Europe, which provide superior service for a fraction of the cost to taxpayers.

BC currently contracts two private companies—Helijet International Inc. and CC Helicopters Ltd.—at an annual cost of about $15 million to operate four dedicated helicopter air ambulances. These helicopters assist injured and ill people in emergency situations, flying them from accident scenes or between health care facilities.

Meanwhile, in Alberta, the Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society (better known as STARS), has five helicopters, with two new ones on the way. STARS’ cost to Alberta taxpayers last year: $6 million. STARS raises three-and-a-half times that amount in non-tax sources, such as a lottery, fundraising events, and corporate sponsorships.

STARS is so good that Saskatchewan and Manitoba are scrapping their for-profit air ambulance contracts and joining Alberta in a western Canadian initiative. BC is the lone holdout, sticking with the more expensive for-profit model. While that’s good for Helijet, CC, and their shareholders, it’s bad for taxpayers.

Not only is STARS cheaper, it seems to offer superior service. Unlike the BC air ambulance helicopters, which are 30-year-old designs retrofitted to carry patients, STARS’ air ambulance choppers are state of the art, specifically designed to medevac people.

In BC, paramedics cannot load or unload a patient from a helicopter while the rotor is turning, which can take as long as three minutes to stop. In Alberta, the STARS copters are designed to keep moving blades at a safe height, allowing immediate patient transfer.

The Alberta helicopters are basically flying intensive care units. They carry a pilot, a co-pilot, a nurse experienced in emergency/ICU care, an advanced life support paramedic, and a referral emergency physician trained in pre-hospital care and transport. BC air ambulances have pilots and a Critical Care Transport paramedic, but no doctors.

The two new Alberta helicopters will be able to carry two patients at once—a godsend for multiple victim accidents.

STARS has a strong base of volunteers, something a for-profit system like BC’s can’t attract. Earlier this month, STARS dropped five Calgary CEOs in the wilderness with nothing but their cell phones. They were promised a “rescue” when they each raised $100,000. The effort was hugely successful, with the executives raising $1.3 million in non-tax dollars for the charity.

B.C.'s eight year, $104 million contract with Helijet runs through April 1, 2019, with an option to renew for another four years. However, the contract does allow the Province to terminate with six months' notice. The Helijet contract was obtained through a Freedom of Information request by Hans Dysarsz, who first raised this issue with the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.

Over the next eight years, BC taxpayers will pay as much as $75 million more for our air ambulances than Alberta does.

If Finance Minister Kevin Falcon is serious about post-HST BC doing “more with less,” transitioning Air Ambulance service to the cheaper, better non-profit model is a good place to start. The provincial government should immediately engage STARS, or the Ontario equivalent, and begin that transition. It makes sense for patients, for government, and for taxpayers.