Airlift group expanding into Maine

BANGOR – Mainers who are unable to receive medical treatment because of travel expenses now have an easier way to ease their pain.

AirLifeLine, a national nonprofit organization founded in 1978, offers a free flying service to patients and their families nationwide. It carries burn victims and cancer patients, among others.

At a press conference held Thursday at the General Aviation facility in Bangor, U.S. Rep. John Baldacci announced that AirLifeLine recently received $1 million grants from both the William Randolph Hearst Foundation and the Ronald McDonald House. The grants will allow AirLifeLine to broaden its service to rural areas in Maine.

Baldacci said he was pleased to promote the program that serves those most in need in Maine.

“Access to health care treatment for many Maine citizens is complicated by long distances of travel and the lack of transportation services,” Baldacci said. “In a rural state such as Maine these are critical barriers to overcome.”

The chairman of AirLifeLine agreed.

“If you can’t get the treatment, you can’t get well,” said Jon Wurtzburger of New York City, who attended the press conference. “We’re focusing on Maine and concentrating on helping people in rural areas get treatment who can’t afford it. I would like to double our flights to Maine,” he said.

“We’ve helped about 20,000 people [nationwide] and [the program] is growing by leaps and bounds, especially since our partnership with the American Cancer Society,” Wurtzburger said.

In January 1999, the ACS and AirLifeLine became national partners. Since that time, the number of cancer patients the organization transports has increased 70 percent, according to Wurtzburger.

“Nearly 6,900 people in Maine are diagnosed with cancer every year,” Megan Hannan of the ACS said. “This program is amazing and makes a huge difference for patients.”

In order to be considered for the program, a patient must demonstrate financial need, cannot be on life-support and must be fully stable, said Alex Wattles of Pound Ridge, N.Y., a pilot and director of AirLifeLine.

More than 1,700 pilots are involved in the free program, Wurtzburger said, and the pilots donate time, planes and fuel free of charge to patients who qualify.

According to the organization, donations and grants help pay the cost of administering and coordinating the program. Funds also are used for activities to increase awareness of the program among the health care community, patients and the public, and are directed at pilot outreach and other growth-related efforts.

Although the pilots are not reimbursed costs, Wattles said he receives pleasure from helping those in need.

“My greatest moments of gratification have been on these missions,” Wattles said. “The most memorable flights are the children. I still get a Christmas card from a family in Dexter that I flew in 1994. You get attached to the people you fly.”

For more information on AirLifeLine call 1-877-AIRLIFE or go online to www.airlifeline.org.