Medical Equipment: Isolettes for Transporting Maine’s Smallest Patients
Read more stories from our 2024 Impact Report.
In 2024 the generosity of donors enabled us to provide the crew with the equipment and tools they need to deliver even better patient care. Each LifeFlight team needs to be as ready as possible for every situation — from transporting Maine’s tiniest newborns to octogenarians, triaging patients from accident scenes to taking over care in an emergency room. Thanks to you, they have the best equipment available.
Gifts to LifeFlight last year included $167,635 in donations to purchase two new isolettes to help transport Maine’s tiniest patients — those weighing less than 5 kilograms (about 11 pounds). An isolette resembles a small, enclosed crib where the ambient temperature is tightly controlled, which is vitally important to newborns.
The new isolettes have fully integrated monitoring systems and specialty equipment that allows the medical team to provide care which previously could only be done in a hospital. Without isolettes, LifeFlight would not be able to transport these vulnerable patients. Your support provides a safe environment for these babies to travel to the care they need. It is an immeasurable gift to any family.
Patient Story
Sunny Dilley was only two days old when she flew in a LifeFlight helicopter from Bar Harbor to Bangor. Sunny was safely tucked into an isolette during the transport, where LifeFlight crews continued to treat her while in the air. The newborn had extremely high levels of bilirubin in her blood and was at risk of tissue damage with potentially long-term effects. LifeFlight was able to quickly transport Sunny from Mount Desert Island Hospital to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center, where she was cared for in the NICU. Now a toddler, Sunny is living up to her name, thanks to the care from the NICU nurses and the LifeFlight team.
