Air ambulance heliports open in Rainy River, Emo

Two heliports opened in Rainy River and Emo on Monday morning.
The projects started to come to light after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks made customs clearance for ambulances and their passengers that much more difficult in Rainy River.
Dan McCormick, with the Rainy River District Social Services Board, visited Rainy River council back in January and asked the town to commit to supplying a site on municipal land some 200 square feet in size.
Council agreed to the request.
Work on the site, which is located at the end of Lorena Street in Rainy River, took place this fall and special reflective cones were supplied by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care.
Then with everything in place in both Rainy River and Emo, the air ambulance did test runs of the new pads Monday morning—using Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) technology to get to them.
The pilots came in as if they were doing a night run to see if the pads would work. Mike Godding, a pilot with the air ambulance, said the Rainy River heliport is perfect.
It took them about 40 minutes to get to Rainy River with the strong headwinds they flew into. “That is about 10 minutes longer than normal,” said Godding.
Each air ambulance flight has two paramedics on board and two pilots.
Making the test flight Monday were paramedics Keith Mulvihill and Andrew Palmeter along with Godding and and fellow pilot John Leonard.
After a brief greeting by Couns. Larry Armstrong, Glen Armstrong, Gerry Marchuk, and Lance Lindal, town administrator Deb Bowman, and town foreman Bob Jenson, as well as a tour of the air ambulance, the crew then departed for Emo.
Both Rainy River and Emo agreed to maintain their respective heliport sites and the special reflective cones.
The air ambulance that arrived in Rainy River and Emo on Monday was from Kenora and usually transports patients from Rainy River to Winnipeg. But it can take them to Fort Frances or Kenora, as well.
The Rainy River DSSAB said in a press release that the rapid movement of critically-injured patients to a higher level of care and the appropriate treatment facility will greatly benefit district residents.