THE STARS STORY

STARS started as a dream. A dream to save the lives of people who were too far away from a hospital with the proper equipment to save them. It was a dream to win the race against time.

In 1985, STARS founder Dr. Greg Powell, and his team leased an Expo 86 helicopter in partnership with the Lions Club.

Dr. Powell said “We flew out to communities in the Lions Air Ambulance with not a shred of equipment except an oxygen bottle. Sometimes we didn't even have a stretcher. We'd grab the stretcher from the hospital or the ambulance that had brought the patient to the hospital.”

Motivated to change emergency care for patients who needed it, STARS was born. A helicopter air ambulance service built by the community, for the community. STARS became the best hope for patients in worst-case scenarios.

Forty years later, STARS has flown over 60,000 missions, operates a fleet of 10 state of the art ambulance helicopters, is home to six bases across Western Canada and have saved countless lives.

Providing critical care anywhere is more than our vision, it’s our North Star — the very reason we exist. It doesn’t matter where you are. It doesn’t matter who you are. If you need critical care, you can count on us to be there in whatever capacity we can help. Because when it comes to the next patient who needs us, it’s never too far.