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The four lifesaving missions STARS helicopters flew after the horrific crash between the Humboldt Broncos team bus and a semi was its largest mass-casualty response since it began operating in Saskatchewan in 2012.

“We were part of the response effort to La Loche, but nothing like this before,” said Mark Oddan, communications lead for STARS Saskatchewan.

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STARS dispatched three helicopters — two from Regina and one from Saskatoon.

“The helicopter from Saskatoon went back a second time,” Oddan said. “Of those four missions, three of them were to Nipawin, one was to Tisdale. At the end of the day, we transported four patients back to Royal University Hospital in Saskatoon.”

Besides the standard crew of two pilots, a flight paramedic and flight nurse, four transport physicians were dispatched as well.

“Two were from Saskatoon who ultimately took on leadership roles in the Nipawin and Tisdale hospitals, and then we also sent an additional two transport physicians from Regina to the Nipawin hospital because there were a larger number of patients there,” Oddan said.