Caring for the Caregivers: Taking Care of the LifeFlight Crew Both Physically and Mentally
Read more stories from our 2024 Impact Report.
In 2024, donors invested in the health, safety, and wellness of our team, because taking good care of the people who care for Maine needs to be at the forefront of our work. By contributing to new helmets and uniforms as well as our new mental health and wellness initiative, your support is having a direct impact on our crew’s physical and mental well-being.
Thanks to your support, we are in the process of replacing all 80 helmets for our pilots and medical crew. The new, lightweight helmets are designed to decrease neck strain during extended use and feature innovations to reduce the risk of head injury and to aid in hearing protection through active noise canceling technology. They also afford better vision protection with special polycarbonate shields and are compatible with night vision goggles.
LifeFlight’s new crew helmets are 25 percent lighter and better balanced. The substantial difference reduces neck strain and fatigue.
Left, flight nurse Veronica Marzonie; right, chief pilot Kirk Donovan.
The Elevate Program
Perhaps the most exciting investment you helped us make in 2024 was the creation of the Elevate Program. LifeFlight of Maine is once again leading the way among industry partners, responding to a severe mental health epidemic among healthcare workers by designing an innovative program to meet their complex needs.
The Elevate Program includes a full-time therapist on staff, who is available to any member of the team at no cost. We are developing a unique peer support program, expanding the employee assistance program, and creating a wellness and resilience curriculum complete with exercise equipment and biofeedback tools.
For patients to get the best from our caregivers, our caregivers need to be at their best. In 2024, you helped us make a significant investment in their well-being.
“My role as Elevate Program Manager has taken off quickly. Staff and crew have been receptive and supportive. I am simultaneously doing individual therapy with those who request it and creating our Peer Support Program. We have two peers newly trained in conducting ASAP (Acute Stress Adaptive Protocol), which gives us the ability both to proactively support peers who are interested in working on current stressors in their life and respond to critical incidents as they arise. There is still much work to do to stand up the Elevate Peer Support Team, but we are making strides forward.”
Beth Andrews, LCSW, LADC (Beth is also the mother of a former LifeFlight patient and a member of the Grateful Patient Program)
