Choppers are not just needed in remote areas.
There is a "sophisticated road access" around Toronto as well, yet we have civilian choppers on standby at Toronto and military choppers on standby at Trenton.
And there are chopper pads on top of downtown St. Michael's Hospital and Sick Children's Hospital as well as at suburban and exurban hospitals.
And we never know what the weather is going to be like here as well.
It's not just getting to the scene. Some trauma requires a fast trauma flight to be called even if there is an ambulance and paramedics at the scene
Moose Jaw is a city and a military base. A rescue chopper could serve both.
BTW: The pilot who was injured got help by calling 911 on his cell phone and a civilian ambulance responded.
In this case, the response time was not a factor in the death of the one pilot or the survival of the other. That says nothing about whether there ought to have beem a chopper on standby.
It's my understanding that from the time of collision to the time that help arrived, 47 minutes transpired. This is unacceptable. Were they not being tracked by air traffic control? Wouldn't the controller have seen there signal disappear? Graham's an ass.