LifeFlight of Maine has won another well-deserved award. It provides a lifesaving service to Maine and I think that most people think of it as a high-speed ambulance, getting to the scene of trauma and transporting victims to a hospital as quickly as possible. I have another viewpoint.

LifeFlight allows me to save the lives of women and children who would otherwise die.

I am an obstetrician/gynecologist at Central Maine Medical Center. Most people don’t associate LifeFlight with obstetrics, but we are a referral center for a large part of Maine.

Periodically, I get a call from an outlying area about a severely ill woman who is pregnant or has just given birth, for whom an ambulance ride would surely threaten the life of the mother or her unborn baby.

For all of us, LifeFlight is a godsend.

The men and women on that helicopter are truly extraordinary. They can get to another hospital in literally minutes. They are highly trained and compassionate professionals, whom I have seen perform nearly the impossible to get victims to CMMC in time to save a new family.

LifeFlight means a lot to everyone in Maine. And I’d like to say thanks for the moms and babies they save.

The next time anyone sees that helicopter take off, say a prayer. I always do.

Ingrid Carlson, M.D., Auburn