Roux Institute students help Maines air ambulance service respond to emergencies faster [Video]

When LifeFlight of Maine gets a call, someone is usually having a life-threatening medical crisis.

It could be that a motorcycle rider has crashed and is badly injured. Or that a person having a stroke at a small, rural hospital needs to be transported to a larger facility better equipped to help them.

As the air ambulance crew often says, “time is tissue,” according to LifeFlight nurse Brandon Mayo. They need to act quickly to stop organs from being damaged.

But it can take up to 20 minutes before one of the nonprofit’s medical crews is airborne. There are about 15 steps required before takeoff from their bases in Sanford, Lewiston and Bangor.

Carry bags of blood from the base’s refrigerator to the aircraft.

Put on helmets. Set up night-vision goggles.

Move the helicopter from the hangar to the tarmac.

Every opportunity to shave seconds off the chute time – the period between being dispatched and taking off – means the potential to save more lives.

…