Grand Manan once again has its own dedicated air ambulance for the first time in nearly two years.
A new aircraft based on the island officially went into service over the Labour Day long weekend.
Ambulance New Brunswick recently signed a contract with Voyageur Aviation, which operates the province’s air ambulance program.
Signed in February, the agreement stipulated that an air ambulance must be stationed on Grand Manan by September.
The aircraft is the third in the provincial air ambulance program’s fleet, with a primary and mechanical backup already being operated by the company.
The Village of Grand Manan paid to construct a hangar for the aircraft, which will be rented to Ambulance NB.
Grand Manan has not had an island-based air ambulance since December 2022, when Atlantic Charters suspended the service due to new Transport Canada regulations.
Those new federal regulations would have required Atlantic Charters to hire more pilots — something the company has said could not be done without the “necessary support.”
In previous interviews with our newsroom, Mayor Bonnie Morse said it is critical to have a medevac service based on the island permanently.
“When you have somebody who is in urgent need of medical care, particularly someone who is potentially suffering from a stroke, there’s the opportunity to get them to the major hospital in Saint John in a much quicker timeline,” said Morse.
“The other factor is that it is sometimes easier to take off than it is to land, particularly in some of that infamous Bay of Fundy fog that we have.”
In more than one instance, a military helicopter has had to be dispatched from CFB Greenwood in Nova Scotia because weather conditions did not allow Ambulance NB’s plane, which is based in Moncton, to land on the island.
