By Doug Fletcher,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – LifeFlight of Maine, the statewide emergency air ambulance service, has expanded its ability to fly during foul weather.

Before too long, LifeFlight also may have another landing spot: A heliport at St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center in Lewiston.

Thomas Judge, LifeFlight’s executive director, said the agency’s pilots can now use new navigation technology that allows them to fly at times when their helicopters might have otherwise been grounded.

LifeFlight invested $8.5 million in two new Agusta helicopters a year ago. The Agusta air ambulances replace two leased 1991 helicopters. Judge said the new birds were equipped with special instrumentation intended to help pilots navigate at times when deteriorating weather could threaten a mission.

“Foremost,” Judge said, the helicopters and instrumentation “are to improve safety.” A secondary benefit is that now LifeFlight can handle cases that it couldn’t otherwise.

Since summer when the pilots were qualified to use the instruments, Judge said that about 7 percent of LifeFlight’s trips have been made employing some or all of the technology.

It also ties into the Global Positioning Systems technology that’s being installed at many of the state’s hospitals. Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston and Franklin Memorial Hospital in Farmington are among the first that will have the locator devices installed.

When St. Mary’s builds its heliport, Judge said the technology will likely be included there, too.

Jennifer Radel, a spokeswoman for St. Mary’s, said the heliport is included in the hospital’s future plans but noted it wasn’t something that would be built immediately.

Judge said that besides improved technology, the new LifeFlight helicopters have other improvements.

The helicopter based at CMMC in Lewiston can transport two patients at a time. That’s been done six times since the helicopter arrived last January.

The helicopter based at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor has a special auxiliary fuel tank that gives it expanded range and allows it to fly to far northern Maine and back without having to land to refuel.

Both are being outfitted with other special equipment, too.

Some of it is intended to help provide care during transport of critically ill infants and children. Some will help with the transport of heart patients.

LifeFlight transports represent a tiny fraction of the state’s ambulance service, Judge noted, but it’s an important fraction. The helicopters are typically used only in life-or-death situations or serious accidents.

Statewide, LifeFlight makes about 1,000 patient transports annually, Judge said. That compares with 230,000 by all of Maine’s ambulance services. About 160,000 of those transports come in through 911 emergency calls, Judge said.

The air ambulance operates with set rates, just as ground transport ambulance services, Judge said. Many health insurance plans cover the cost of those transports. In other cases, the services are covered by auto insurance plans or individuals.

Use of LifeFlight is considered a physician prescription and medical service, Judge said. Flights are authorized based on strict medical-use criteria.

The cost of some cases are covered by the LifeFlight Foundation, a nonprofit supporter of the air ambulance.

“Charity care has already exceeded our annual budget” for this fiscal year, Judge said, but added that the service won’t turn anyone away.

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