It was a great week for the Helicopter Airlift Operation (HALO), when they received a total of $8444.26 from the Elkwater Community Association (ECA) and the Cypress Hills Park Watch.
“HALO is something that benefits everybody in this community, whether camper, cabin owner, or rancher,” said Leslie Nemeth, a member of the ECA.
Nemeth said that the ECA has always wanted to donate to HALO, and they had been approached for a number of years.
When a local rancher had a serious tractor roll accident, the ECA realized that anything could happen and that whatever the incident, it could happen to anyone.
During a monthly ECA meeting, a member brought up the brochure for HALO, and a motion was made that the ECA would donate all funds raised to the non-profit organization, as well as match all funds raised.
At approximately three events in December, the ECA raised a total of $1722.13, and matched the funds to donate a total of $3444.26 to HALO.
The Cypress Hills Park Watch felt much the same way as the ECA, in that they highly valued the services HALO provides to the community.
In December 2010, the Park Watch decided that after their Casino, they would donate a certain amount of funds raised to HALO as well, which turned out to be $5,000.
“HALO saves lives,” said Esther Marshall, a member of the Cypress Hills Park Watch. “We don’t anticipate accidents, but they do happen. We hope to keep HALO running so they can continue with their service.”
Leslie Mayer, administrative assistant to HALO, was one of the members to accept the two cheques from the two southern Alberta organizations.
“To keep the operation running is about $2301 per day. It is a huge amount to keep the helicopter in the air, or waiting for something to happen. It’s amazing that people don’t recognize that every penny counts.
“It feels wonderful for every donation,” said Mayer.
The MedicAir Society is coming up on its fifth year of service, and Gerald Gaede, member, said that communities are usually pretty good with supporting the service.
“The word is slowly getting out there and communities are slowly getting behind it.”
According to Mayer, by the time a ground ambulance reaches a location in a timely manner, the helicopter can be there far more quickly.
For locations like the Cypress Hills, a simple ambulance, in good road conditions, could reach the lake in approximately 40 minutes.
But as O’Brien Tarnasky, District Conservation Officer, said, in a serious accident there is an amount of time that is referred to as the golden hour.
The golden hour is a time period lasting from a few minutes to a hour following traumatic injury being sustained by a casualty, during which there is the highest likelihood that prompt medical treatment will prevent death.
Just last year alone, the Cypress Hills utilized HALO in at least two different cases.
“If we don’t have an alternative to land ambulance service, lives will be lost,” said Marshall.
Marshall is not the only one who knows that HALO saves lives. Mayer knows that the organization she works for is important to save people.
“It’s the kind of service that you hope nobody needs, but if you require it, it is so important for it to be there.”