HALO Air Ambulance will add hours to its daily service in the Prairies with new high-tech goggles
The night vision goggles recently purchased by HALO Air Ambulance in southern Alberta are not the kind you’d buy to play hide-and-seek in the dark.
As HALO's executive director Kim Simpson describes it: “These aren’t toys. These are military grade.”
HALO Air Ambulance's medevac helicopter serves southern Alberta, reaching and transporting patients from an area in excess of 50,000 square kilometers.
Like many outdoor activities, HALO Air Ambulance is at the mercy of daylight for operations out of its base in Medicine Hat, AB. Without night vision capabilities, operating hours can vary from 16 to just eight hours a day, depending on the season.
And when is the motor vehicle accident rate highest, with a need for emergency response? In the winter, when conditions are poor and daylight is short.
“By law, we cannot fly our helicopters at night without these night vision goggles,” says Simpson. “It’s tough—imagine the position our pilots are put in when they can’t accept a call in the mid-afternoon because they won’t be able to make it back to base by sundown.”
For emergency rescue, it’s all about positioning. HALO Air Ambulance is fortunate and intentional about its home base. On one tank of gas, a HALO helicopter can make it to a patient and transfer them to a hospital in Calgary—the work of angels, to be sure.
Since its launch, Enbridge's Safe Community program has invested about US$20 million (more than C$26.1 million) in first responder organizations near our pipelines and facilities.
Ongoing tax revenue, local/regional economic stimulation, community investment, and workforce salary.
HALO’s new night vision goggles can produce images in almost total darkness, which pilots rely on to reach their destination safely. The goggles are dubbed “opto-electronic devices,” and HALO has ordered a set of four this spring.
With the high-tech goggles and intensive pilot training each costing a cool US$50,000, it’s a collaborative effort to find the funding for what is literally a life-saving purchase.
Enbridge recently gave two grants of $7,500 each to HALO Air Ambulance as part of our commitment to improving the quality of life in areas near our operations—one donation to fund the night-vision goggle initiative, and another to support purchase of an onboard satellite communications system for use in areas without cellular connectivity.
Enbridge has supported a number of emergency service providers across North America by providing funding through our Safe Community program, which has provided about C$13.3 million since its inception in 2002.
Though HALO employs two pilots, the purchase of four sets of goggles is mandatory in case one pair malfunctions or becomes damaged on a flight.
Simpson shares her excitement for the incoming goggles, which will enhance the “awe-inspiring” work the organization is able to provide.
“The technological capabilities out there are amazing. These goggles are going to give us the ability to go out and respond to missions that we normally wouldn’t have been able to respond to,” she says.
“It will potentially save lives.”
