08/10/2026
🚁❤️ MORE THAN A HELIPAD — IT’S A LIFELINE ❤️🚁
Sometimes, you have to look beyond the concrete, the steel and the helicopter to understand what something truly means to a community.
At Lumberton Rescue and EMS, our medical helipad is much more than a place for a helicopter to land.
It represents preparation. Partnership. Vision. And most importantly — hope.
The story began in 1981, when this helipad was built to provide an aviation access point for military aircraft transporting patients.
No one could have known then just how important that piece of concrete would become to the future of emergency medical transportation in our community.
As the years passed, the vision evolved.
UNC Health Southeastern recognized the importance of having medical aviation resources close to the people of Robeson County and surrounding communities. Their support of the helipad and its mission helped lay the foundation for what it would eventually become.
Then, in 2018, Lumberton Rescue and EMS partnered with Air Methods to take that vision even further.
Today, we are proud to have a full-time medical aircraft stationed here, supported by a full-service aviation fueling station and a state-of-the-art hangar.
But when you look at this facility, don’t just see a helicopter.
See time.
See the minutes saved when an aircraft is already here.
See the family who gets a little more time with someone they love.
See the trauma patient who gets to the care they need faster.
See the stroke patient whose treatment cannot wait.
See the critically injured person who may have another chance because an aircraft was ready to go.
Just this past weekend, Lumberton Rescue and EMS volunteers responded to 11 calls for service. Three of those patients required aeromedical transport.
Three times, our volunteers were faced with patients whose conditions required a higher level of care and rapid transportation.
And three times, the capability to get those patients into the air was right here in our community.
That’s why this helipad matters.
Some of the people helped by this resource may never know the history behind it.
They may never know that the helipad was built in 1981.
They may never know about the people who had the vision to build it.
They may never know about the partnerships that kept that vision alive.
They may never know about the volunteers who responded to their call.
They may never know about the pilots, flight crews, dispatchers, nurses, paramedics and medical professionals who all played a part.
But their families may.
And we know.
We know that when those rotors begin to turn, someone’s life may be changing.
Someone’s family may be praying.
Someone may be hoping for just a little more time.
And our job is to be ready.
❤️ UNC Health Southeastern — thank you for believing in the vision and supporting this resource from its beginning.
🚁 Air Methods — thank you for partnering with Lumberton Rescue and EMS since 2018 and bringing a full-time medical aviation resource to our community.
🚑 Lumberton Rescue and EMS volunteers — thank you for answering the call, day after day, year after year.
And to the community we have proudly served since 1954 — this resource belongs to you.
It is here for your children.
Your parents.
Your brothers and sisters.
Your neighbors.
Your friends.
And maybe someday, someone you love.
From a helipad built in 1981…
To a full-time medical aircraft today…
The mission has never changed:
Get people the help they need when every second counts.
Because we don’t know whose life will depend on that helicopter tomorrow.
But we do know this:
When that moment comes, we want to be ready.
🚁 Seconds matter.
⏱️ Minutes matter.
❤️ Lives matter.
Trained to Save. Dedicated to Serve.
🚑 Lumberton Rescue and EMS
Serving our community since 1954.
