[00:00:00] Hi, friends. Elise Kiely here, host of the Elegant Maine Living Podcast. I have a question for you. Do you ever go hiking or camping or maybe even skiing, whether it's cross-country or downhill, in the rural part of Maine? You know, we're so fortunate to live in this beautiful state with so many areas of beautiful woodlands and mountains, but they're often very remote.
And what happens if something unexpected occurs on a remote island or deep in the north Maine woods or on a snowmobile trail, and you need critical care immediately, and the landscape is rugged geography, harsh weather or limited access to a trauma center in that part of the state? [00:01:00] In today's episode, we're going to be talking about exactly this type of situation, and we're going to talk about one of the least understood but most important organizations in Maine, and that is Life Flight of Maine.
And friends, as the founder and host of Elegant Maine Living and a global real estate advisor with Legacy Properties Sotheby's International Realty, I don't just help people buy and sell homes, I help them create a lifestyle, and today's episode is so entwined with that lifestyle of what we have here in Maine.
And if you're listening, chances are you love Maine the way I do for its natural beauty, its value-driven communities, and for the people who live here with intention, purpose, and elegance. And I'm excited today to be joined by my new friend, Brian Elo, who has had his own experience with Life Flight in his family and now sits on the board of this amazing organization.
Brian, welcome. Good morning. [00:02:00] Really appreciate your being here, and I, I know that your involvement with Life Flight was not a long career, but your involvement and introduction to Life Flight happened at a personal family situation that you had several years ago. That's right. Um, unfortunately, my wife Liz and I got the call that no parent ever wants to get.
Um, our son had been skiing in New Hampshire and, uh, hit a tree while he was skiing, and he was transported to a local hospital, um, where they found that, uh, he had significant internal damage, uh, including a transected aorta. And- And what does that mean, a transected aorta? What that means is, unfortunately, the major blood line coming from the heart has been ruptured.
Mm. And, um, at that moment, they called Life Flight, and fortunately, they were available that day, and they airlifted him to Maine Medical Center, where surgeons worked on him for many, many [00:03:00] hours and, uh, everyone did what they were supposed to do that day. And he's a wonderful mid-30s, uh, recently had a baby, um- And, and a great guy
young man, a great guy, lives here in Maine and, um, he's got the gift of life, and our family is all together partially because of Life Flight. That's, that's a very poignant story, and I, I found myself, as you were sharing it, sort of holding my hands tightly because you're right, that's, that's a phone call every parent dreads.
And how old was your son at that time? He was 11. That's terrifying. That's terrifying. And you really credit Life Flight, and we're gonna go into what Life Flight is, but you really credit Life Flight with saving his life. Yes. I think virtually everyone that day did their jobs, whether it was the mountain personnel or the local hospital.
Um, but without Life Flight, um, he wouldn't have survived. That's the honest answer, because they provided critical ICU level [00:04:00] care to him, um, all the way across the transport over to Maine Medical Center, um, to allow the surgeons to be able to do what they did. You know, it's, that's such an important story 'cause we can talk about organizations in Maine and what they do, but when you hear a story like that, and I think all of us can try on that emotion, having a resource like Life Flight, and particularly in a state like Maine where we don't have a big east-west highway system, and we have some very strong tourist areas, lots of outdoor activities, snowmobiling, skiing, and, and New Hampshire, um, right on the border there.
And without access to airplanes and helicopters to transport people, what should be minutes is hours to transport somebody to Maine Medical, which is our level one hospital, um, here in Maine. And I recently did a podcast episode with Mike Baumann, who's the director of the emergency department at Maine [00:05:00] Medical, and we touched on Life Flight a little bit.
But can you, can you tell us about the... What is the mission of Life Flight? Well, fundamentally, the mission of Life Flight is to ensure that everyone in Maine has access to critical care when they need it, regardless of where they are in the state. Um, and at the end of the day, it's about providing that critical care to people- Mm-hmm
in the minutes that matter- Mm-hmm ... um, regardless of where they are across this wonderful state. Yeah. It's, and because we have hospitals throughout the state, although like a lot of states, some of our rural hospitals have been facing some challenges, and that just increases the need when those have fewer and fewer services, and in some case closing, increases the need for people who live in those rural states who have traumatic injuries to get access to the appropriate hospital.
Yeah. Th- that, that's right. I think, uh, there's two things. One is our geography of our state is so vast, [00:06:00] um, and it's a wonderful resource, but what it means is people sometimes are hours and hours away from, uh, any, any care whatsoever in the eve- event of an injury. And then the other dynamic is what is going on nationally as well as here in Maine, which is the pressures on hospital systems to provide critical care to stay open- Mm-hmm
um, and to be available for people in the areas in which they live. Yeah. So let's talk about the, when you say critical care From the point of injury or the point of need to the hospital, and that's what Life Flight provides while it, the transport is happening. What does that mean? Is that ICU level? Is that trauma care?
How are these, uh, these, uh, planes and helicopters and ambulances equipped? That's a, that's a great question. So critical care is the highest level of care in the emergency, uh, EMS systems. Um, so there are varying [00:07:00] levels. Critical care is the highest level, and what that essentially means is it's ICU-level care- Wow
when it's needed, and that is what Life Flight does. Whether it's one of our five helicopters or the airplane or the, uh, various, uh, land vehicles that we have- Mm-hmm ... every one of them is a, a, um, capable, and the staff is capable of providing ICU-level care, not only on the ground, but also at 2,000 feet in the back of a helicopter.
That's... I mean, just pause for a minute. That's amazing. So these vehicles, whether they're land or air, are equipped with the resources they need to provide life-saving support, ICU-level support in the air. So it's not just the pilot, co-pilot. Who else is on the, who else is in the vehicle? Well, there are nurses, um, and, um, uh, uh, medical care people essentially- Mm-hmm
highly [00:08:00] trained medical care people providing the actual care, um, in addition to the great work that the pilots are doing. And in many cases, the level of care that they're providing exceeds the level of care that's available in the geographies where the individual, the patient is being picked up from.
Wow. Wow. And what is the volume of patients that you all serve on average? Well, it's going up every year because of some of the things that we talked about. But generally, we serve about 3,000 transports a year, and growing. Um, and, uh, what that breaks down to is essentially one every three hours, 24 hours a day.
So Life Flight, on average, every three hours, is transporting somebody to a hospital 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year? Yes. Wow. And are you all [00:09:00] transporting mult- could you transport multiple patients at the same time? Well, some of the limitations of the helicopter and otherwise, um, don't allow for that, but yes, there are instances where multiple transports are needed.
Um, sometimes that's an accident. Mm-hmm. Um, but sometimes it's the, uh, difficult situations like w- just what recently happened up at the lumber company- Right ... um, where Life Flight was on site with a- all of its vehicles, uh, helping with the transports to not only Portland, but Boston and beyond. Boston as well.
Yeah. That was devastating. And so, and if there was a situation in northern Maine and a situation in western Maine, two independent situations, there are resources that you could provide help simultaneously for both, depending on the needs of the, of the situation. Yes. The, uh, the equipment is geographically located to allow for the most efficient transport, so in Sanford, Maine, Bangor, and in the Auburn-Lewiston area.[00:10:00]
And hopefully there isn't too much conflicting- Right ... work going on so that it's available when needed. Um, but w- by and large, we're able to respond wherever it, wherever it's needed. You know, it, it's, it strikes me that that is a huge logistical feet to organize an ambulance to wherever the helicopter can land or the plane can take off to the hospital or to an, to a halfway point, eventually to a hospital.
What, where do you land? Uh, where do you pick up the nurses and the other medical care providers, um, to be on these aircraft? Right. Well, our staff, and including the medical staff, are in the various locations, so they're ready to go on a moment's notice. Um, at the time of a call, um, the pilots, interestingly, the only thing that they look at at the time is not so much what the injury is or the [00:11:00] individual, but they look at the weather- Mm-hmm
and they look at whether or not they can safely, m- uh, transport somebody. Um, and once that decision's made, then they're able to go to the site. But a lot of the reason why Life Flight has helicopters and a fixed plane and ground transportation is that sometimes they're not able to get in by helicopter, so the ground transportation might be a quicker way to provide the ICU-level service that the individual needs.
And is sometimes the ground transportation taking them to the helicopter drop site? It could be, or they could be taking them to a local hospital, um, where that could become the transport site ultimately as well. Okay. Okay. And are Maine's characteristics are the rural aspect of our state, the vast amount of our state, are we particularly in need of an organization like Life Flight, or are these sort of organizations, do we see these in other states as well?
Well, most areas around the country have [00:12:00] Um, have air medical emergency systems. Mm-hmm. Um, what's unique about Life Flight is that it's a not-for-profit, which is highly unusual. Um, and also the geography of this state is very different than, say, the geography around New York City or Boston- Mm-hmm ... or the major hubs.
Um, you know, I think most of us who live in Maine know that it takes longer to drive from Portland to Fort Kent than it does from Portland of New York City. Right. So it gives you some, some idea about the vastness of the state and the remoteness of the state. Yeah. Let's, you know, you raise a interesting point about Life Flight being a nonprofit.
W- let's, let's start from the beginning. When did Life Flight start? It was founded in 1998. Um, and, you know, it was the vision of, uh, some individuals who really understood the need in the state and the need for critical care at the moments that matter. And, um, since that time, the organization's been lucky to grow, to have partnerships with [00:13:00] state and local authorities, um, a fabulous donor base that provides the support.
You know, I think somewhere around $42 million has been raised- Wow ... since 1998 from some 18,000 different donors. So it's a, it's a robust organization that's grown over time, and, uh, fortunately, because the need is continuing to grow at 15% or so a year- Wow ... um- 15%- Yeah, that- ... year over year ... that, uh, it's important for us to continue to fund this organization.
And when it started in '98, it started as a nonprofit? Yes. So there's the, the nonprofit... There are two organizations, as I understand it. The nonprofit and then the organization that owns the helicopters and the planes. Is it... Do I have that right? Yes. There, there's two organizations that really work hand in glove.
So Life Flight of Maine is the helicopter air transport medical, um, organization, the operational organization. Mm-hmm. Life Flight [00:14:00] Foundation, which is the board that I sit on, is the fundraising arm, if you will, for Life Flight of Maine. And, and do you all fundraise? Are those private donations, or is there any public assistance in that?
There are some grants. Mm-hmm. There are some public assistance when an certain major capital needs come up, for instance, bonds for helicopters. Mm-hmm. Um, sometimes there's partnerships with local authorities for landing sites- Mm-hmm ... um, and co-investment on those. So, uh, so it all depends on the situation. So let's talk a little bit about the crew and the training How do you all recruit your medical professionals who are working in the vehicles and the pilots?
Are those all, those are all employed by Life Flight? Are those a full-time position for Life Flight? Yeah, the employee base is really sort of the magic of the whole organization. There's about 160 employees in the organization. The vast number of them are involved in the medical services. So whether it's [00:15:00] highly trained pilots that come to us from various backgrounds, the military backgrounds- Mm-hmm
and others, um, they're exceptional in what they do. And then the medical staff is a highly trained medical staff on trauma. And so the individuals that come, uh, to the organization are put through very, very extensive training programs, um, mentorship programs, and the like, to allow them to develop the capability and the skills that they need to provide on-the-ground service.
And, uh, are there shared personnel with the, with the hospitals? Are they fully dedicated to Life Flight? There's some sharing, but most of the de- the, uh, organization is dedicated to Life Flight, but there's partnerships with the hospital systems- Sure ... to allow for the services because really we work hand in glove with each other.
So Brian, let's, let's turn the page a little bit and some of the challenges that I would assume an organization like Life Flight has is definitely fundraising because that's the lifeblood of any [00:16:00] organization. Um, but there's also the things that we have less control over, like weather and, um, topography of Maine.
How do, how does the organization plan for landing in some of these very rural areas where there are no roads? I mean, how do you know where you're going to land at a certain area? So the vastness really does create some challenges. Um, there are weather challenges- Mm-hmm ... uh, literally every day. Um, both winter and summer have its challenges, whether it's fog or ice and snow.
Um, and we have a system of, um, some 35 different camera sites on landing areas and 18 different weather stations around the state that allow for real time information coming to the transportation people so that they know that it's safe to fly into a particular area. So you all have designated landing sites identified throughout the state?
Yes. There are [00:17:00] 1,500, um, predetermined emergency landing sites they're called. And what are those sites? So they, they're not just for Life Flight, they have other uses probably in- Yes ... every night. I mean, some of them are formal landing pads, like at Maine Medical Center- Mm-hmm ... and the other hospitals, and others are baseball fields in the back of some, uh, town somewhere or an open field in the middle of snowmobile country.
Wow. And they are all logged into a technology system such that, uh, the pilots and the transportation people will know the most, uh, safest and most efficient way to get to the individuals. And I, I just imagine, I'm not an expert in this, but with the increase of air traffic, drone traffic, this must be an FAA, uh, logistical puzzle of how you make sure that when you're taking off from a baseball field in northern Maine on your way to, let's say, Bangor, that you're not gonna run afoul [00:18:00] of other air traffic or even drones.
Yeah, I think the operations people have their hands full. Yeah. Uh- Yeah. It's a lot of challenges. And it's a lot of challenges. Um, the great thing is, though, that there's a lot of coordination. Yeah. And, um, and safety is paramount, both for the staff as well as the patients, obviously. Yeah. It does-- It seems like there's a lot of coordination, a lot of logistics, not only with the hospitals, but with the, as I said, the FAA or area airports, um, making sure that everyone is safe transporting people to and from, to and from the areas.
Brian, as we close out the first half of our conversation, I wanna thank you so much for sharing your story and helping us better understand the mission of Life Flight of Maine. As I reflect on our conversation, what stands out to me is that Life Flight is so much more than helicopters and airplanes.
It's really about making sure that everyone in Maine, [00:19:00] whether they're on an island, deep in the Northwoods or on a ski slope, or just a rural community, has access to critical care when minutes matter most. And your family's story is a powerful reminder of what can happen when all the pieces come together at exactly the right moment.
Listeners, if this episode resonated with you, please share it with a friend, a coworker, someone you know who's interested in the medical field or goes on excursions into the rural parts of our state. By sharing this episode, it continues the conversation going and keeps the information accessible to more and more people.
And in the second half of our conversation, I'm looking forward to going behind the scenes of Life Flight and talk about the highly trained pilots, nurses, and medical professionals who make these missions possible and how Life Flight navigates Maine's challenging weather and geography, the [00:20:00] role the organization plays in supporting Maine's outdoor lifestyle and tourism economy, which is so important to the state.
And we're also going to talk about what the future holds for this remarkable organization. Listeners, you are not going to want to miss the second half of this episode. And as always, please remember, this podcast is for educational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered to create a real estate or a legal relationship, nor does it provide real estate or legal advice.
If I can help in any way with your real estate journey, please feel free to reach out to me directly through the Elegant Maine Living website. And if you're dreaming about a life in Maine or already living it, this podcast is for you. Until next time, keep exploring, keep asking questions, and keep living with intention, because here in Maine, elegance is not just an aesthetic, it's a way of [00:21:00] life.
