Diecast Dispatch

The Ontario Air Ambulance System

Back in the spring of 1977 a new and revolutionary idea was taking place in Ontario – an air ambulance service that offered rapid access from rural areas of the province to highly trained Critical Care Flight Paramedics arriving by helicopter. Whether on-scene response or medical transfers from remote locations to the hospitals in Toronto, the service would be the first of its kind in Ontario, and the first in North America to offer Flight CCPs.

With funding provided by the Ontario Ministry of Health, a one-year pilot project was set underway in 1977 with a Bell 212 helicopter based just north of Toronto at Buttonville Airport.

Here's a copy of an industry newsletters announcement of the service.

The helicopter – a joint initiative by the Ontario Ministry of Health, Metro Toronto Department of Ambulance Services and two Toronto trauma hospitals (the Hospital for Sick Children and Sunnybrook Medical Centre) took to the air in the fall. It was originally scheduled for the spring, but due to infrastructure issues and training, it finally got off the ground in October 1977.

Below are some pictures of the original Bell 212 with a flight registry of C-GONT and a couple of the die-cast depictions from my collection.

The helicopter was utilized quite a bit during the initial one-year trial. Doctors from rural hospitals would call the dispatch centre and speak with the dispatcher who in turn patched the calling physician in with a physician at either of the two trauma hospitals (depending on the patient's age), and a determination was made whether to send the helicopter or not.

The helicopter pilot project went on to become a huge success, and in February 1980, it was made a permanent part of the Ontario Ministry of Health's Ambulance Services Branch.

Here's the Code 4 press release announcing the projects permanancy.

Now that Ontario had a dedicated helicopter ambulance added to its EMS fleet, it needed a name. A contest was launched through the Ontario Ministry of Health in conjunction with the two trauma hospitals the helicopter served. The "Name the Helicopter" contest was launched and the eventual winner would be from Kitchener, ON.

In May 1980, a nine-year-old patient from the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, named Susan Davis entered a name that won the hearts of the judges and Ontario’s Air Ambulance Helicopter had its name: Bandage 1.

Here’s the text of her winning letter:

Dear Hospital,

My name is Susan, and I am nine years old.I had heart surgery at your hospital eight years ago. My daddy told me that there was a contest in the newspaper (to name the helicopter). My name for the helicopter is Bandage 1.I like this name because bandages make you feel better and so does your helicopter. I hope I win because I would like to ride in the helicopter.

From Susan Davis

Susan's name would grace the side of the Bell 212 twin engine helicopter from June 1980 onward. Here are two pictures of Susan herself in the helicopter she named.

Many changes have occurred in the Ontario air ambulance system since the beginning. We've added numerous other helicopters and fixed wing aircraft, changed manufacturers and now even have the whole system being run by a private company, Ornge.

In the late 1980s, an effort was underway to replace the aging Bell 212 with a more modern and functional air ambulance helicopter. Following good reviews and successes in the U.S., the Ontario MOH trialed a new BK-117 clamshell air ambulance.

Here are a few shots of it while it was in service. It too carried the name “Bandage 1” as it was the touted replacement for the tiring workhorse Bell 212.

Unfortunately, the trial of the BK-117 didn't end well. One day just after returning from a flight, the helicopter met its end on the helipad at Buttonville Airport as it burned to the ground just after landing. Nobody was injured in this disaster, but it did spell the end of the BK-117 trial.

Fixed-wing aircraft played an important role in the early air ambulance days. Here's an example of a fixed wing aircraft operated by the Ontario Ministry of Health to help patients in remote areas get into major centres for treatment.

C-FZVX was a Beech 200 twin turbo prop which continued with Susan's "Bandage" theme and sported the identifier “Bandage 4.”

An eventual replacement was found for the aging Bell 212 twin turbo helicopter – it was the Sikorsky S-76 turbo helicopter. Now painted in the new Ministry of Health orange and blue, 10 of these helicopters were purchased and served all across Ontario, all with a Bandage number assigned to them as a tribute to Susan.

The new 799 Bandage 1 at the hover in Toronto with the CN Tower as a backdrop.

When the Ontario Air Ambulance Service received its new name, Ornge, in 2006 under the control of Dr. Chris Mazza, helicopters and now land-based units transported patients under the name synonymous with the colour of the vehicles used.

Ornge currently has more than 400 employees, including paramedics, paediatric transport paramedics, transport medicine physicians, and a team of educators and researchers.

The company owns 11 Sikorsky S76 helicopters and four Pilatus PC-12 airplanes. In addition, they have also purchased 10 state-of-the-art AgustaWestland 139 helicopters; the first of which went into service in Sudbury in December 2010.

Ornge has access to more than 50 airplanes, operating out of 13 bases across Ontario. Ornge also operates a critical care inter-facility land transport program in Ottawa, Peterborough and Toronto. As a result, in 2007 Ornge became the only Canadian transport medicine provider to earn accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems in all three modes of transport – helicopters, fixed-wing aircraft and land ambulances.

Ornge’s helicopters, fixed wing aircraft and land vehicles have the capabilities of a mobile hospital, and handle approximately 20,000 transports every year. The majority are transfers between medical facilities, allowing the patient to access a higher level of care. Ornge also responds to ‘scene calls’ – with transport medicine paramedics responding to the scene of accidents or injuries, for example traffic accidents.

Unlike emergency medical service providers, Ornge is not accessible to the public through 9-1-1. The coordination of Ornge services is the responsibility of the Ornge Communications Centre (OCC). The OCC provides communication services as defined in the Ambulance Act. When requested by local land ambulance dispatch centres, an Ornge helicopter will be deployed to respond to an accident or travel to a remote area, if the patient meets the established guidelines for transport.

Ornge provides comprehensive, door-to-door service to Ontario’s critical care patients wherever they may reside in the province’s one-million-square-kilometre area.

Teams of flight paramedics and paediatric transport paramedics work round-the-clock. These specialists have ready access via a satellite-based radio system to Transport Medicine Physicians on the ground for consultation and to receive medical orders. The result: Rapid-response on-board medical care that works for all residents of Ontario, regardless of where they live, when they need it.

Ornge’s decision to purchase our own aircraft is to improve and enhance transport medicine services for Ontario patients and particularly for those patients living in the North. This decision was driven by the need to provide more transport medicine services for patients and also for the need to update the aging fleet of aircraft that was is currently being used for transports.

This includes buying 10 Agusta Westland AW139 helicopters and owning and operating six Pilatus PC-12 Next Generation airplanes. Ornge Air began providing patient transports in the new Pilatus PC-12 airplanes in Thunder Bay (August 2009) and has seen expanded to Sioux Lookout (September 2009) and Timmins (October 2009). The Ornge airplanes are dedicated aircraft outfitted to provide advanced and critical care levels of medical care to patients.

Moving forward, Ornge is planning on closing its base in Toronto and re-opening two in other centres – Hamilton and Oshawa.

The future looks bright for Ontario’s air ambulance program under Ornge, new aircraft, new bases, expanded scope with pediatric transport land units.The system sure has grown from 1 Bell 212 to the most sophisticated system of pre-hospital and inter-hospital transport medicine in North America.