Dare County EMS has announced that the department will host a Dare MedFlight open house from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday, March 25, 2023, at the Duvall/Willoughby Hanger, which is located at 1078 Driftwood Drive in Manteo.
The free family friendly event is designed to give members of the Outer Banks community an opportunity to tour the Dare MedFlight helicopter, its hangar and an ambulance, and to meet crew members and learn more about the essential role they play in rapidly responding to situations that require a patient to be transported to medical facilities outside of Dare County in order to receive treatment at regional specialty centers and other hospitals.
“Dare MedFlight is a critical component in our EMS agency’s ability to rapidly transport life-threatening and other serious medical conditions that exceed the capabilities of our local hospital resources,” said Dare County EMS Director Chief Jennie Collins. “Due to our geographically remote area, reducing time to specialty centers—such as trauma, heart, burn, pediatric and other specialties—is vital to a patient’s recovery and, at times, their survivability. In addition, we can launch quickly to assist in searches for lost or missing people and have located many individuals who have accidentally gotten off course on land and in the water. We also can support law enforcement missions for searches. We are fortunate to have this resource readily available to our citizens and visitors, and we enjoy having the opportunity to let our community see it up close and understand its capabilities.”
In addition to providing tours of the helicopter, hangar and an ambulance, the open house will also feature various activities for children and adults and allow attendees to participate in question and answer sessions with Dare County EMS staff members and learn about life-saving treatments that they can perform. Refreshments will also be served during the event.
