The Alberta Shock Trauma Air Rescue Society, STARS, is dedicated to providing a safe, rapid, highly specialized emergency medical transport system to critically ill or injured patients in Alberta and southeastern and northeastern British Columbia.

• STARS has operated from a Calgary base since 1985. The Edmonton base started operations in 1991. The Grande Prairie base opened in 2006.
• STARS collaborates closely with the fixed wing and ground ambulance services in the province for a strong Chain of Survival and coordinated pre-hospital care response.
• The STARS vision of saving lives is supported by four pillars: patient care and transport, emergency medical communications, education and research, and fundraising and community support.
• They have flown over 19,000 missions since 1985.
• STARS flight crew includes two pilots, a nurse experienced in emergency/ICU care, an advanced life support paramedic and a referral emergency physician.
• The crew is on stand-by 24 hours a day, seven days a week and can be in the air in less than 10 minutes. In 2009, they completed 1,465 missions.
• STARS has five helicopters - STAR-1 in Calgary, STAR-3 in Edmonton and STAR-5 in Grande Prairie. STAR-2 and STAR-4 are the back-up and support aircraft.
• The STARS Emergency Link Centre is an advanced 24 hour communications centre. When a call comes through a one-number system, communication specialists can link multiple callers to determine the most appropriate response including medical advice, medical referral or transport.
• Albertans are not billed by STARS for care and transport in the helicopter.
• STARS is a non-profit charitable organization whose funding needs are met through private donations received from individuals, service groups, businesses and corporations, and through collaborative affiliation agreements with Alberta Health Services.