Members of STARS’ air medical crew have won the prestigious Association of Air Medical Services’ 2022 Air Medical Transport Simulation Competition. 

Regina-based nurse Kevin Easton and paramedic Chris Fay represented STARS at the annual critical care skills contest on the big stage, held during the AAMS conference in Tampa, Florida last week.

The competition focused on the latest in-patient simulation and featured nine teams from across North America competing head-to-head to display their real-time, real-situation skills in front of a panel of judges and a live AAMS audience. Easton and Fay were the only team from Canada in this year’s competition.

“The education and training that STARS does allowed us to be well prepared and perform at a high level through some very difficult scenarios,” said Fay. “We were well supported by colleagues leading up to Tampa and down in Tampa, which was invaluable. We were so fortunate to be able to represent this organization and come away with first place.”

“A win like this means that our team and our organization can compete and win on an international stage,” explained Cindy Seidl, chief clinical officer with STARS. “The dedication, training, and commitment to excellence that our organization exemplifies was evident as our team successfully navigated an incredibly complex scenario and came out victorious.”

Easton and Fay were not told what type of emergency medical cases they would encounter in Tampa. What awaited them were three challenging scenarios, including a championship round with the four best teams.

STARS has historically done very well at the international championship, consistently placing in the top three every year since 2002 and winning seven times.

This is the fourth time a Saskatchewan-based team has represented STARS at the competition and the second time a Saskatchewan team has won the Sim Cup, with a crew from Saskatoon winning the trophy in 2018.