Thousands take part in TAKE FLIGHT! event

   PRESQUE ISLE, Maine — More than 3,000 people from across the region came to the airport in Presque Isle Oct. 5 to be a part of the TAKE FLIGHT! event held by TAMC, Northern Maine Regional Airport and the Central Aroostook Chamber of Commerce, along with several other sponsoring businesses and organizations.  “TAMC has held a Fall Health Fair for a number of years, but this year we wanted to really expand on that,” said Jason Parent of TAMC, one of the lead organizers of the event. “Of particular interest to us was a way to showcase the great work taking place by the Crown Critical Care Transport Team, which meant moving the venue to the airport to include the fixed-wing aircraft used in those types of transports.”
All too often, according to Parent, people read or hear about someone being transported by air downstate in critical condition and equate it with Life Flight, which although provides a valuable service, makes up a smaller portion of transports than those flown by fixed-wing aircraft using Crown personnel.
“We’re so glad that Scott Wardwell from Northern Maine Regional Airport shared our vision of what a great community event this could be,” said Parent. “He opened up their facilities to us, and he and his staff were incredibly supportive throughout the whole process of preparing for and the day of the event.”
TAKE FLIGHT! was like three events in one: part health fair, part community vendor fair and part air show.
More than 40 exhibits were displayed at the health fair, many of which featured different services provided through TAMC. Ten of the exhibits were offered by groups of senior nursing students from Northern Maine Community College, who take part in the health fair annually as part of a community education component of their program. The 38 students were not only being graded on their effort by instructors, but competed for a chance to win a TAMC scholarship presented to the group deemed to have the best student display by a group of judges from the health care organization. The winning team of four students received $400 from the hospital to help with their education expenses. The winning group engaged fair-goers on the topic of travel safety.
During the health fair, TAMC offered free adult flu shots and free cholesterol screenings. More than 650 shots were given by TAMC staff and NMCC nursing students. A total of 143 individuals had their cholesterol checked.
With the extra space allowed by the change in venue, TAMC was able to invite community vendors to take part in TAKE FLIGHT! Approximately 45 vendors were on hand ranging from children-friendly activities such as The Maine Jump and Circle of Learning to information on community organizations such as the Kiwanis Club and Knights of Columbus. A number of vendors were on-site to showcase their wares, and a variety of food vendors provided meal and snack options during the day, including free samples by Coca-Cola from their healthy beverages line and free hot dogs from the staff at Print Works and The Star-Herald. Public safety displays by local fire departments and ambulance services were also set up.
Perhaps drawing the most attention of the day were the aviation activities. The excitement was kicked off with fly-ins by helicopters from Life Flight of Maine and the Maine Forest Service. The Maine Forest Service helicopter also held a demonstration later in the day on the use of helicopters in deploying water during forest fires. The excitement continued with a “plane parade” which featured seven airplanes taxiing and taking off one after the other, flying around the airport, and then landing consecutively.
For those who wanted to actually go up in the air, brief scenic flights were also offered during the day. Pilots Walter Mosher and Gary Baer provided scenic flights to over 100 individuals. The proceeds from these flights benefited Crown Critical Care Transport.
In keeping with the beginning goal of focusing more attention on Crown Critical Care Transport, two live demonstrations were held of a patient air transport. The “patient” was brought to the airport in a Crown Emergency Care Ambulance and transferred onto the Crown Critical Care Transport fixed-wing aircraft, which then took off, circled around the airport and landed. Also part of the event was the unveiling of the new Crown Emergency Care and Critical Care Transport Team logos.
The day culminated with the Great Golf Ball Drop, sponsored by PenAir and Coca-Cola. Members of the Presque Isle Fire Department dropped 1,000 golf balls from their ladder truck. The five ticket holders whose number matched the numbers on the five balls closest to the bulls-eye won a free roundtrip airline ticket to Boston courtesy of PenAir.
“Overall, this was an incredible day,” said Parent. “We are thrilled with how many community members joined us at the event, as well as the tremendous support we received from those businesses and organizations that collaborated with us to make TAKE FLIGHT! happen.”