When unpredictable weather makes flying unsafe, LifeFlight's critical care crew goes by ground

Dana Elie and his son, Joe, have been snowmobiling in the woods north of Greenville for years.  In fact, you can find them at the remote family camp in Rockwood nearly every winter weekend. A day trip often takes them more than 100 miles into the woods of northern Maine. One night last March, after a long day of snowmobiling along the Golden Road, Dana woke up at about 2am with chest pains. With no phone at the camp and no cellular coverage, Joe had to drive more than a mile down the road to the local store where he used a pay phone to call 9-1-1. He described Dana’s symptoms and gave the dispatcher directions to the camp, and then returned to help his father.

Because the camp is in such a rural location, Rockwood first responders were the first ones to arrive. Just as they started an initial assessment, Dana’s heart stopped.  With little medical equipment to help them, the crew began CPR and revived Dana within just a couple of minutes. Soon after, the ambulance from CA Dean Memorial Hospital arrived. The emergency crew realized his best chance for a good outcome was to get to the cath lab at Eastern Maine Medical Center as soon as possible. They made the request for LifeFlight before they had even left the camp.

Unfortunately, it was an extremely foggy night and the LifeFlight helicopter couldn’t make the flight safely. The critical care crew could, however, travel by ground ambulance to Greenville, bringing with them advanced equipment and years of experience treating cardiac patients. When Dana arrived at CA Dean, the emergency department staff worked to stabilize him and prepare him for the 85-minute trip to EMMC. His heart   again on the way to Bangor, but he pulled through and arrived at Eastern Maine at about 9am. He went immediately to the cath lab, where he received 3 stents in his right coronary artery.

Dana spent about 3 days in the hospital, and another 2 weeks recovering at home, before he returned to work as a contractor, building and remodeling homes. Although the snowmobiling season was essentially over by then, Dana had recovered just in time to look forward to his summer hobby, spending weekends with his son on their Harley-Davidson motorcycles.

CREW MEMBERS
CommSpec Beth Mazzerole : Capital Ambulance Driver Sally Taylor
Nurse Missy McCann : Paramedic Josh Dickson