For the second time in two months, the Canadian Forces had to step in on Grand Manan Island in New Brunswick and provide an air ambulance service.
The Joint Rescue Center said it received a call just before 4 p.m. Friday when Ambulance New Brunswick said it would be unable to take off due to low flight ceilings and fog.
The Joint Rescue Center dispatched a helicopter from Greenwood, NS, to the island a short time later, and it took about six hours to complete the operation.
Although there is an island hospital, the facility does not have the resources for high acuity cases.
Without an operator for a long time, Grand Manan’s residents would continue to rely on the mainland’s resources.
The island has been without its previous service since late last year when Atlantic Charters was forced out because of regulations surrounding the hours pilots can fly.
The company has since been in talks with the province over a contract, and in a statement to Global News, Peter Sonnenberg, chief pilot and vice president of business development and strategic development, wrote: “The last time Atlantic Charters met to negotiate December 12, 2022. We are prepared to continue negotiating. … There are no waivers and Atlantic Charters does not seek any waivers. We do not want to harm the people of Grand Manan.
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The community’s mayor, Bonnie Morse, said Tuesday that she estimates there are 100 Medivacs a year, noting that she is trying to work with the province to find a permanent solution.
“The longer this goes on, I think, the less optimistic I am that an easy solution will be found,” she said, speaking from the Island.
“I think that if there was an easy solution, we would be there by now, and the fact that this has been going on for so long, it strikes me that we are still in a holding pattern.”
She said she remains hopeful for a solution in this area. In the meantime, she hopes to establish the same level of service in Grand Manan as in the rest of New Brunswick.
Global News contacted the province and Ambulance New Brunswick for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
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