Alberta-based air ambulance unveils new helicopter

A Medicine Hat-based medevac service added a new helicopter that it says will make it more versatile and help more Albertans.

HALO Air Ambulance’s new helicopter is “a game changer,” the Medicine Hat-based medevac service says.

The aircraft has different capabilities than HALO’s first helicopter: it can land on elevated helipads and operate at higher temperatures.

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Paul Carolan, HALO Air Ambulance’s CEO, said having a second helicopter adds flexibility.

“With our partnership and relationship with Alberta Health Services, they understand and encourage us to make sure the aircraft is pristinely maintained and so built into our agreement with them times where we could be down for scheduled maintenance. We don’t like that – we’ve never liked that – and it’s something as far as we’re concerned is unacceptable.

“So, this positions HALO to be able to provide that service almost 100 per cent.”

Its paint job also mirrors the landscape it serves, with imagery of the rolling hills of the Prairies and the Rocky Mountains and the iconic Medicine Hat teepee.

HALO provides air ambulance services to southern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan.