The last three postings are interesting, but they miss the point that CommunityAIR has been making about the Medivac services at the Island Airport.

There are fixed wing Medivac aircraft that fly into the Island.  Most of them are coming from other centers in Southern Ontario and in some instances from the United States.  They do not need to fly into the Island Airport.  They could land at Pearson, Hamilton or Buttonville and the patients, or the vital parts that they are carrying, could be transported back to the hospitals by ambulance, or if it is a real emergency, by helicopter.

The helicopter service located on the Island is also in the wrong place.  Ontario health services are organized by geographic region and the catchment area for Toronto is north of the city.  The emergencies the helicopters respond to are in places like Barrie, Peterborough and Midland. 

When there is an emergency, the helicopter has to fly from the Island Airport, over the city, and then on to the pick-up location north of Toronto.  The patient is then transported to a heliport located on top of the hospitals in downtown Toronto, and the helicopter goes back to the Island Airport again. Flying over the city adds at least ten minutes to the emergency response time and in the case of critical emergencies those ten minutes can be the difference between life and death.

 A far better location for the helicopter emergency service would be north of the city.  Buttonville would be ideal, but Pearson still has unused capacity and could easily handle the helicopters.  This would give faster response time and provide better service.

The Island Airport is a parking lot for the Medivac helicopters and fixed wing aircraft and a very inefficient one at that.  The service is located there because the rent is lower than at either Pearson or Buttonville.  Members of CommunityAIR met with the CEO of the helicopter service, and he admitted that the Island Airport is a terrible location for them but they are locked into a long term lease.

One further point: the noise from the helicopters is becoming intolerable for residents along the Waterfront.  It is loud and the choppers often fly directly over high rise apartment buildings in the downtown. 

I was at the water’s edge near York Street three or four months ago and a helicopter flew all along the Waterfront 100 meters offshore at a height of about 100 meters.  The noise was deafening, and very annoying to hundreds of people.  It was totally unnecessary.

This service is in the wrong location and must be moved north of the city.

Bill Freeman