On Monday (September 4) you will have an opportunity to chat with representatives from STARS Air Ambulance as they take part in Cochrane's Labour Day Parade celebrations.

A tent will will be erected in the Crossfit Cochrane parking lot where you can grab your 2018 STARS calendar, visit with STARBEAR, and for a donation grab a star shaped helium balloon.

Being recognized as a community supporter is important to STARS as they have unfortunately provided service to almost 30 calls in the Cochrane area over the past year.

Kristy Campbell, Development Coordinator for STARS, shares many don't think about the valuable service STARS provides unless they have been personally affected. 

The other misnomer is around funding. Many people don't realize that STARS is able to provide the service it does mostly due to funds from sponsors, fundraisers, donations, and the lottery. Without continued support the service STARS provides could be drastically altered.

"In Alberta we are 20% funded by the government and that would cover the cost of very minimal, basic programs; we actually fund the remaining 80% of our costs. To provide the kind of support we provide we do need that sort of funding or things would have to change."

Another portion of funding goes toward the emergency link centre which is located on the base. The centre provides communication with all emergency services when deploying flights with in Canada as well as ground communications even if not responding.

STARS began in Calgary 31 years ago after Dr.Greg Powell lost a young mother who was being transported from a rural area to Calgary by ground ambulance, and decided something had to change. Creating a service which he originally self funded by hiring a pilot to fly a helicopter and responding to calls from ambulances on his own cell phone, Dr. Powell's vision has resulted in tens of thousands of missions and in many cases been the deciding factor between life and death, recovery and permanent damage.

Over the past year STARS has been deployed 1500 times across Alberta and can provide service to an emergency situation in the Cochrane area in under 15 minutes. 

Campbell is hopeful many Cochranites stop by the tent and learn more about the critical service STARS provides.