How remote First Nations are working with Ornge to improve medical transportation – CBC

Mar 12, 2026

Emergency first response team (EFRT) program running in northwestern Ontario

Getting a proper vehicle to transport people for urgent medical care is an ongoing challenge in fly-in First Nations in northwestern Ontario.

As a result, these communities rely on Ornge’s air ambulance service to get them to the nearest hospitals in Kenora, Sioux Lookout, Winnipeg or Thunder Bay — hundreds of kilometres from home.

In Keewaywin First Nation, for instance, people with a medical emergency can’t readily get a vehicle, let alone one equipped with health-care supplies, to go to the nursing station.

Read More: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/ornge-emergency-first-response-team-program-9.7124502