Chris Fay and Kevin Easton were the only Canadians at the Association of Air Medical Services 2022 Air Medical Transport Simulation Competition in Tampa Bay, FL, but they made it count, winning the entire competition. Fay and Easton are both from Regina and work for STARS Air Ambulance, but they traveled south for two days of competition on Oct. 24 and 25, where they competed against eight other teams in critical care. “We were really happy about it. “Talking with other teams, some of them didn’t feel as good as we did,” said Fay, a critical care paramedic with STARS for about four years.
A Little About the Winners
Easton is a critical care nurse who has been with STARS since it first opened about a decade ago, according to Fay. The competition’s criteria are “pretty closely guarded,” so Fay and Easton weren’t sure what they were being judged on, but they had a general idea of what to expect.
According to him, the judges were fellow critical care workers from across North America.
“You don’t end up finding out your score; you just find out where you got,” he explained.
Despite the preparation, Fay joked that there was some pressure because it was the 17th year that STARS had entered the competition. According to a press release, STARS has placed in the top three every year since 2002 and has won seven times.
About the Air Ambulance Organization
STARS has had four Saskatchewan-based teams represent the organization, winning twice. Saskatoon’s crew last won in 2018.
“You don’t want to be the team that finishes last for the first time,” Fay joked. “That was probably the most stressful thing for me and Kevin because we don’t want to be that team,” he explained. “But it’s all in good fun at the end of the day.”
Every year, STARS holds an internal competition in which volunteer teams compete in an emergency care scenario.
