Community Members Come Together for “One Lewiston” Blood Drive
This October, LifeFlight of Maine teamed up with Central Maine Medical Center (CMMC) and the American Red Cross of Northern New England to host a “One Lewiston” blood drive. The drive was held one year after the October 25, 2023, mass shooting in Lewiston. Together, community members donated 64 units of blood over the course of two days.
“I was working the night that LifeFlight responded to the Lewiston shootings,” said Kayla Jones, a flight nurse who also helped to organize the blood drive. “It was special to see everyone coming together as a community that night. On the scene, there were police officers, first responders, and EMS. And in the hospital, people who may not have worked together before were able to seamlessly do their jobs that night. It was humbling and special to witness firsthand.”
Together with our EMS, first responder, and hospital partners, LifeFlight forms the “chain of survival” for people who are critically ill or injured. The health and safety of all our communities depend on each link in the chain. On the night of October 25, every link in the chain was activated.
Our Lewiston-based crew was at CMMC as the tragic events unfolded. LifeFlight 2, our Lewiston-based helicopter, was stationed on the CMMC helipad. We immediately dispatched our Bangor and Sanford-based helicopters to bring additional LifeFlight medical crew members to CMMC to assist in the care of patients who were brought to the hospital by local EMS and first responders.
Our plane also brought blood products from Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center, which were given to the CMMC blood bank to use in the care of patients.
The sense of community seen that night once again shined through a year later at the “One Lewiston” blood drive.
Robert Marcous says he’s a regular blood donor and knows the critical need for blood donations. He works at Lewiston High School in the special education department and wanted to “honor the loss we had last year at this time” through his donation.
Brittany Frey is a CNA at CMMC. “I haven’t donated in a while, and I was here [at CMMC] the night of the shooting,” she said. At the time, she was in the emergency department completing her nursing school clinicals. When she learned the blood drive was in honor of Lewiston, she said she was committed to donating.
Joe Anderson is a pediatric hospitalist. He was also at CMMC on October 25, 2023. “I know the importance of donating blood and thought this was a good reminder of why we should come and do it regularly,” he said. “I think sometimes it’s easy to put things like this off,” he said, adding “and when the hospital said they’re going to do this, I was like okay, there’s no more putting it off.”
Blood donations are always needed. Blood donations save lives. That’s why together with CMMC and the American Red Cross of Northern New England our goal is to collect 1,025 (in honor of 10/25) units of blood during the drive.
Thank you to all the donors and volunteers who helped make the drives on 10/14 and 10/18 a success. If you couldn’t make it, you can still help. You can pledge to donate blood to the “One Lewiston” blood drive through the American Red Cross’ “SleevesUp” campaign.
