STARS Air Ambulance is a community-supported non-profit organization that provides air medical transportation for critically injured and ill patients. They operate 24/7 with air medical teams that include critical care paramedics, critical care nurses, and physician oversight. Time for STARS is of the essence, which includes the the time it takes to deploy helicopters parked in the hangar.
Engineering challenge STARS protocol required maximum of eight minutes from the time they received emergency calls to the time their helicopters needed to be airborne. Rapid hangar access became the critical hangar door challenge.
Custom solution A single one-button push on a wireless remote opens the door enough for one helicopter to exit the hangar (half the width of the opening) with another push to open the entire door (both sides), or close it completely. This frees up the door operator to help prepare the helicopter to exit. The wireless remote also works outside the building. As a precaution, a safety edge sensor on the door will stop the door if ever there’s a problem or obstruction.
