Helicopters are often the fastest way to transport critically ill patients to the specialists they need to survive, but the most vulnerable patients — seriously ill infants — face a special set of challenges going airborne.

Invariably, infants lack the body fat needed to stay warm while aloft, and they can’t be wrapped in blankets because that would make it too hard to monitor their condition.

LifeFlight of Maine has acquired a new piece of equipment for its Lewiston-based medical helicopter: an Isolette that should bringing life-saving care closer to western Maine’s rural areas. The crew is now training to use the equipment, and it should be in operation soon.

Another one was deployed at Eastern Maine Medical Center in October for use by the Bangor-based medical helicopter.

“For very small children, they are inherently thermally unstable,” said Thomas Judge, LifeFlight executive director. “If you’re a really sick baby, you need to go to Bangor or Portland.”

The $110,000 Isolette, purchased with a donation from Walmart and individual Walmart stores in the state, has received the blessings of the Federal Aviation Administration for use in a helicopter.

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It is designed to move easily in and out of the helicopter, so the infant does not have to be removed from the warm environment of the plastic shelter to be transferred.

The Isolette maintains a stable temperature. It allows monitors to be attached to the baby and includes a ventilator to assist in breathing.

“The Isolette is the safest way for the babies to travel … safety and warmth are two of the most important things,” said Stacy Dow, nurse manager of the neonatal intensive care unit at Maine Medical Center. “The Isolette itself is sort of a mobile NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). You’re moving the NICU with the baby.”

LifeFlight officials estimate that about twice a month, the medical helicopters are asked to transport a critically ill infant from a small hospital to one of the state’s Level 3 neonatal intensive care units, in Portland and in Bangor.

Currently, most of the infants brought to Maine Medical Center come by ground ambulance, said Dow, which can take much longer than the helicopters, which travel 120 mph and don’t having to negotiate terrain.

The helicopter based at Central Maine Medical Center in Lewiston generally has responsibility for areas west and south of a line through Farmington, Waterville and Rockland. Having an Isolette available in Lewiston will shave about half an hour from the response time of the Bangor helicopter for transporting an infant in western Maine.

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Once the second Isolette is in place, LifeFlight officials expect to have between 25 and 30 missions year requiring the equipment, out of a total of 1,300 missions a year overall.

Staff Writer David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at:

dhench@pressherald.com

 


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