NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Air ambulance services across the territory and western Nunavut may look a little different this month, but two familiar companies are behind the scenes.

One of the four new King Air 250 aircraft purchased as part of a partnership between Advanced Medical Solutions (AMS) and Air Tindi. The new venture called ACCESS, was launched with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the airline's hangars near the Yellowknife airport. - Daron Letts/NNSL photo

Air Tindi and Advanced Medical Solutions (AMS) recently unveiled ACCESS, a new formal partnership between the airline and medical services company for their long-term medevac contract with the GNWT.

"It's a big, positive step forward," Air Tindi president Al Martin told News/North.

AMS president Sean Ivens said discussions about ACCESS, which stands for Aeromedical Critical Care Emergency Services Specialists, started after a 2014 request for proposals required one company to serve the NWT.

"We decided neither would be the subcontractor, and a partnership meant we would have equal say and ownership in the contract," said Ivens. "It also prevents each company from impacting the others' quality and safety."

Before this change, Air Tindi and AMS had separate contracts for providing air ambulance services for the GNWT for seven years.

The two companies held a ribbon-cutting ceremony and open house in the renovated hangar at Air Tindi's offices in Yellowknife on Oct. 15.

The facility, formerly used as Air Tindi's Twin Otter maintenance hangar, was redesigned for AMS medevac staff and patients.

"When we transfer patients, we're able to transfer them in a warm, comfortable environment rather than out in the cold," Martin said.

A new on-site storage facility and equipment space is also available for the medics at the site, he added.

"So when they arrive they can get all the gear they need so they can head out on a flight right away. That speeds the whole process up," he said.

At the ceremony, Air Tindi unveiled its newest King Air 250 planes.

Ivens said the aircraft's design, purpose-built for air ambulance services, will increase both the quality of care for patients and the work environment for the medics working inside them.

"They're more reliable and slightly faster, which means better response time," he said. "They also came from the factory set up for air ambulance with integrated communication equipment and all cabinetry designed for our services."

Each plane is equipped with two beds and are all the same, Martin added.

"It just makes such a difference to have a standardized fleet," he said.

Ivens said even the design of the seats is ergonomically much better and safer, which means fewer work-related injuries, less fatigue and greater safety.

"Plus there's the novelty of a new aircraft," he said.

They even come equipped with built-in coffee machines for long, late-night flights.

One of the four new planes is to be stationed in Inuvik through its partnership with Aklak Air.

Ivens' career in public care services has come a long way from his days as a volunteer firefighter in Hay River.

In addition to providing medevac services, AMS now has four other divisions, including occupational health services, medical supplies and education.

Even after 20 years of evolution and change, Ivens said the challenges of being a business in the territory are still mostly tied to higher costs across the board.

"We don't have the volume like in the south," he said. "And because everyone knows there's so much opportunity here, it's a competitive environment."

Ivens said being able to offer a diversity of services and have staff with a variety of abilities was also a big lesson.

"It's really difficult to become a specialist here," he said. "With a Northern business you have to be able to do a little bit of everything."

Ivens said AMS' status as a Northern company is very important to him, especially since he was born and raised in the North.

While he said he works hard to source as much as he can from the North, Ivens said the calibre of medical professionals needed for his company aren't available in the territories. As a result, he has some southern staff come up for different rotations periods, such as four weeks on and then four weeks off.

"The challenge then is scheduling," he said. "But now we're considered in the top three across the country for air ambulance services and we're able to recruit from other medical programs."

Ivens said this arrangement, while not ideal, still allows his staff to support the territory's economy while working here while providing patients across all of the communities with better medical treatment.

As for the future, Ivens said AMS is planning to grow in all of its divisions, including working with physicians located abroad as well as expanding its occupational health and education services.

"The $500,000 investment we put into our simulation lab was private funding to support our air ambulance programs," he said. "It's the only one of its type in the North and there's great opportunity there."

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