CEO, councillor tapped for island rescue fundraiser

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/09/2020 (1615 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Steinbach CEO and a municipal councillor from Ste Anne spent last Wednesday stranded on an island, but you won’t hear them complaining.

Al Babiuk, president and CEO of Loewen Windows, and Sarah Normandeau, a council member in the RM of Ste Anne, participated in STARS Manitoba’s Rescue on the Island fundraiser.

The annual event deposits community leaders on an island where they must call up contacts to ‘rescue’ them by pledging a donation to STARS. A series of medical and survival challenges are also interspersed throughout the day.

Babiuk and Normandeau, along with Bernhard Teichroeb, a manager with Wiebe’s Steel Structures in Morden, managed to raise a grant total of $229,226 for the air-ambulance service.

Colleen Mayer, STARS’ director of development, said in a release she was “thrilled” by the trio’s efforts during a tough year for fundraisers.

Four of seven participants dropped out of the event, mainly for reasons related to the pandemic.

The remaining three were loaded onto a pontoon boat—a helicopter entrance was scuttled by the pandemic—and ferried to an island near Otter Falls, east of Pinawa.

“We didn’t know where we were going until they had us en route, it’s always a secret,” Babiuk said.

Each participant was paired with a STARS flight paramedic who guided them through the various challenges and jotted down incoming pledges.

One of the challenges involved intubating a patient mannequin.

“It’s a lot harder than it looks on Grey’s Anatomy,” Normandeau said.

They also built a high-visibility landing signal using makeshift supplies and located a patient bleeding in the forest after a simulated wilderness mishap.

“It was really cool to get a glimpse on what (crews) deal with on a daily basis,” Normandeau said. “You think you know the logistical components behind a STARS mission…boy, you don’t. It’s such an intricate process, especially during a pandemic.”

Babiuk agreed.

“All of it was educational. You know generally what they do but you don’t realize how complex it can be.”

He also came away with a renewed appreciation for the situations pilots must navigate.

“They’re landing in any kind of conditions. It could be in the middle of the bush with an ATV accident, it could be on a highway or a field.”

STARS (Shock Trauma Air Rescue Service) is a private, not-for-profit organization contracted by the Manitoba government to transport and treat critically ill and injured patients in southern Manitoba. It is funded by a blend of government dollars and corporate fundraising.

STARS flies about 700 missions per year in Manitoba. Each one costs about $5,000, Normandeau said.

Since 2011, STARS has flown over 500 missions to southeastern Manitoba, 202 to the Steinbach area alone.

Normandeau said she doesn’t know who nominated her for Rescue on the Island but she agreed in a heartbeat because she knows four STARS patients who have made her an advocate for the service.

“In rural Manitoba especially, STARS is so important,” she said. “They provide those very precious seconds.”

Babiuk said he was nominated by past participants who thought he’d be a good fit for the event.

He and Normandeau aimed to raise $50,000 each. Babiuk doubled his goal, pulling in over $100,000, while Normandeau drummed up $86,000.

Normandeau, who is also the Town of Ste Anne’s recreation services manager, used her background in human resources to stage a series of small fundraisers throughout the spring and summer that had an impressive cumulative effect.

They included a “Dare Sarah” contest that raised $2,300 in one hour. Normandeau found herself singing, dancing, and running. She even lay down in a puddle for $20.

In total, Rescue Sarah supporters raised over $17,200, the largest single donation collected during this year’s event.