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Medflights will soon originate out of Sanford Airport

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A Agusta 109 helicopter similar to the one shown will begin being house at Sanford Airport for life potential lifesaving flights next spring. (Courtesy photo)

PORT CLYDE, Maine - Thanks to a $3 million dollar gift from Linda Bean, the granddaughter of L.L. Bean and heiress to the L.L. Bean business and fortune, a lifeflight helicopter will be housed at Sanford Airport, making transports of medical patients to regional hospitals more expedient.

The announcement was made on Sunday by Lifeflight of Maine, an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit air medical and critical care transport organization.

The new tool in Maine's emergency response effort came thanks to a three-year fund-raising effort led by Bean's generous gift.

The new aircraft will join LifeFlight's current fleet of two helicopters, an airplane and dedicated ground ambulances. The additional resource means quicker emergency response times for critically ill and severely injured patients not only in southern Maine, but for the entire state.
To accommodate the growing fleet and to ensure the best coverage of Maine, LifeFlight is also opening a third base of operations at Sanford Seacoast Regional Airport in York County. Clinical staff will move into the newly renovated hangar in January and start providing critical care transport in an interim medical helicopter, while the new aircraft undergoes the final stages of construction, changing it from simply a fast helicopter into a flying intensive care unit.
LifeFlight's new helicopter, the latest version of Agusta's 109 model, will arrive in Maine in the spring. Though it will be painted with the familiar white, green and gold color scheme, it also takes advantage of recent advances in composite materials and electronics. The cabin is a little larger and the airframe can carry an additional 400 pounds.

The Pratt and Whitney engines are more efficient, providing higher performance with less fuel. Perhaps most significant are the "NextGen" avionics in the new aircraft, which include advanced autopilot and streamlined compatibility with satellite-based air traffic control that the FAA is implementing over the next several years.

This means patients everywhere will get faster care and transport to specialty medical centers in Maine, Boston and beyond.

LifeFlight of Maine is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit air medical and critical care transport organization. LifeFlight brings lifesaving critical care staff and equipment directly to the patient by helicopter, airplane and ground ambulance. It also provides advanced emergency medical training to Maine's hospitals, emergency medical services LifeFlight cared for nearly 1,800 critically ill and injured patients last year. Since its inception in 1998, LifeFlight has transported more than 21,000 patients from every hospital and nearly all of Maine's communities and islands.

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