Life Flight 'drops in' for training session

The Sisters Fire Hall got an unusual visitor on Monday afternoon.

A Life Flight helicopter landed in the back parking lot of the fire hall on Elm Street, the first such landing in Sisters.

The Life Flight crew was coming in for a lengthy EMT training session, according to Deputy Fire Chief Jeremy Ast.

Ast explained that Life Flight and AirLink both provide advanced training and assessment through their highly trained in-flight medical personnel. The crews are able to provide skills verification for advanced techniques that are seldom called upon in emergency calls - skills such as inserting a needle into a chest cavity to relieve air pressure from a collapsed lung.

The Life Flight crew was on duty, which required them to stay close to the helicopter - thus the fire hall landing.

The copter came in for a smooth landing without a hitch - providing a thrill for some children of firefighters who watched the landing from closed equipment bays nearby.