Dispatches, October 2024

October 24, 2024
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Dispatches shares stories from the patients, supporters, crew, and communities that make LifeFlight of Maine one of the premier air ambulance services in the nation. It is published three times each year by The LifeFlight Foundation.

Read all the stories from our October 2024 issue of Dispatches.

Stories in this issue of Dispatches

LifeFlight of Maine helicopter taking off next to an ambulance.

Updates from the FlightDeck

Dear Friends, Welcome to our Fall 2024 issue of Dispatches! Imagine for a moment you are a member of our clinical crew. You are assigned to transport a critically ill pediatric patient from a rural Maine hospital to a major medical center. On the flight there, you run through your pediatric training in your head. […]
LifeFlight of Maine helicopter in flight.

L.L.Bean’s Gift to LifeFlight and All Who Love to Explore

Maine is a beautiful state. Mountains to summit in the spring and ski on during long winters. Rivers to fish once the snow melts. Islands to explore in the summer. Beaches to enjoy on hot days. Forests to hike through in the autumn. It’s also the most rural state in the country in terms of […]
Bob Carr in Vietnam in 1970.

The Sound of Life: Bob Carr’s LifeFlight Story

“I had to laugh, because I’ve been a helicopter pilot all my life, and it was the first time I flew in the back of a helicopter. I’m usually the driver.” ~ Bob Carr, retired U.S. Army pilot, former LifeFlight patient Most of LifeFlight of Maine’s patients do not remember the helicopter ride. Some will […]
LifeFlight crew members next to a helicopter.

Clinicians in an Aviation Environment: Safety, Teamwork, and Professionalism

By Henry Frank It’s the people who make an organization great, and LifeFlight of Maine is no exception. There are more than 120 of us on the LifeFlight team. All of us are used to getting A’s, we are unaccustomed to failure, we rarely meet a challenge we can’t surmount, and our personal commitment to […]
Chris Fife and his wife, Michele, at a Cross for LifeFlight event, August 2024.

Leadership Spotlight: Chris Fife

Forests are as emblematic of Maine as lobsters, schooners, and snow. They represent a multi-billion-dollar industry, and they lure thousands of jobs and tons of machinery about as far from town as one can get and still be in Maine. The forest products industry has supported LifeFlight of Maine since the beginning, because the people […]
LifeFlight of Maine crew inside the helicopter

Helicopter IFR: How Technology and Innovation are Saving Lives in Maine

Josh Dickson is LifeFlight of Maine’s director of aviation. He oversees LifeFlight Aviation Services (LFAS), the division of LifeFlight that is certified by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to operate LifeFlight’s aircraft. Fully staffed, his department includes ten airplane pilots, fifteen helicopter pilots, nine aviation maintenance technicians, and a leadership team consisting of some of […]