Highway Scene Response A First

Nova Scotia's air ambulance helicopter made its first highway landing on Sunday, following a head-on car collision on Highway 101 near Mount Uniacke.

Five adults were taken to hospital after the crash, and all survived.

The STARS (Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society) air medical flight crew landed on an overpass less than 100 metres away from the crash scene and transported the most seriously injured patient to the Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre in Halifax where a trauma team was waiting.

The four other patients were taken by ambulance to the QEII centre.

"It was a terrible crash that could have been much worse," said Dr. John Tallon, the trauma team leader at the QEII on Sunday. "It was a well co-ordinated effort involving communications dispatch, paramedics, first responders, the STARS team, and the trauma team here at the hospital."

STARS began scene-response missions earlier this year and has started training paramedics, police, firefighters and other first responders around the province on how to work near the air ambulance when it lands at or near the scene of an emergency. When training is complete, scene response will be available in most parts of Nova Scotia.