December 2, 2025 | 40 Years of STARS, Allies, Innovation, Our Patients

Celebrating 40 years of STARS, November 2025

Every month, we’re collecting stories celebrating 40 years of STARS Allies, Very Important Patients, and Innovation. These were the stories we highlighted in the month of November 2025.

Forty Years of STARS Allies

Lions Club International

Archival image of the first BK117 STARS used, with Lions Club International livery and logo on the sides of the helicopter.

Launching an air ambulance service isn’t easy — it requires funding, trust, and an organization willing to take a leap of faith. Lions Clubs International (LCI) made it possible for STARS to take flight.

In 1985, STARS was initially known as Lions Air Ambulance Service and flew a white helicopter with the Lions logo on it.

Today, our helicopters are red, our fleet has grown, and we’ve become a lifeline for communities across Western Canada, but the Lions’ unwavering support remains the same.

To honour our very first donor and the steadfast support that has followed for 40 years, we named one of our helicopters C-FLCI after LCI.

Emma Menyer

STARS Very Important Patient Emma Menyer poses in front of a STARS H145 air ambulance helicopter during a visit to the STARS Winnipeg base.

Emma Menyer and a friend were travelling home after a long weekend vacation when their car was struck by train.

Only her friend was able to escape the vehicle before the collision. Emma was still inside when the train hit.

An ambulance took her to a local hospital, where worst fears were confirmed: the impact had fractured her neck. She was temporarily stabilized, but needed specialized care at the trauma centre in the city. Due to the severity of her injuries and the risk of travelling by ground with a fractured neck, STARS was called.

“I don’t know what else could have happened if they were not available, if STARS didn’t exist. What they do is just so amazing and wonderful, and the people that do it are so brave.”

Learn more about Emma’s story.

Forty years of STARS Innovation

Flexible Bronchoscope

STARS transport physician Dr. Reid Hosford demonstrates the use of a new flexible bronchoscope device at the STARS Calgary base.

STARS has recently added a flexible bronchoscope to its air medical toolkit to help with complex cases, optimizing the efficiency and safety of intubation.

In life-saving situations, ensuring a patient has a secure airway is critical. But in certain cases, when there is trauma to the airway, excessive swelling, or even if the patient has atypical anatomy, intubation can be difficult. Now, with the flexible bronchoscope, transport physicians can clearly see what’s happening further down the airway and more quickly find an effective solution.

The device is a small camera on the end of a maneuverable scope that goes down the throat and allows STARS transport physicians to see past the vocal cords and into the trachea, where they place an endotracheal tube.