Crane in Kitchener closes air ambulance helipad
Posted Jun 26, 2017 11:29:23 AM.
Last Updated Jun 26, 2017 11:48:26 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A crane on Victoria Street in Kitchener is blocking a helipad on Wellington Street.
The helipad is used by air ambulances that transport patients to either Grand River Hospital or St. Mary’s.
Meetings are scheduled for the near future, but long-term options may need to be considered.
Officials from the Grand River Hospital, St. Mary’s and ORNGE (which provides air ambulance service to Ontario) and Transport Canada will meet to discuss the crane blocking the helipad, which is a block away.
Mark Karjaluoto with the Grand River Hospital tells 570 NEWS that once the hospital was notified by ORNGE last Wednesday, a back-up plan was formed.
“The back-up plan that was going to ensure the safety of patients coming to the hospital is to use the Region of Waterloo airport.”
Karjaluoto adds helicopters land on the pad close to 100 times a year. “It’s about one every two or three days, while it’s not a big number it’s an important number, however, the medical professionals within the hospital with whom I’ve spoken have indicated confidence that the back-up plan is working,” he says.
Helipads are federally regulated so the City of Kitchener has their hands tied and now the air ambulances have to land in Breslau at the Region of Waterloo International Airport.
Patients are then picked up by a ground ambulance and transferred to either GRH or St. Mary’s which adds an extra 15 to 20 minutes to their trip.
The crane was put up for a condominium development on Victoria.
