On Mother’s Day one year ago, islander Pete Welch celebrated with his family by having breakfast out and taking a trip to Tacoma to play laser tag, but the day ended in an unexpected way — with an emergency helicopter flight off the island to a Seattle hospital.

Welch, known to many on Vashon, particularly for his work in the island music scene, suffered a heart attack. Now in good health, he advocates purchasing what is often called “helicopter insurance,” but is a membership program with Airlift Northwest, which flies individuals in need of critical care to hospitals when arriving quickly is essential. Representatives from Airlift Northwest will be on the island Sunday, when the Sunrise Ridge board holds its first Tailgate Sale, an event meant to bring a crowd to Sunrise Ridge, raise a small amount of funds for the facility and provide a venue for islanders to sell items at a community sale. It will also give islanders a chance to see the recently improved helicopter pad at Sunrise Ridge and learn more about the airlift program.

Since 2013, Airlift Northwest has flown nearly 100 islanders off Vashon to nearby hospitals, according to information provided by the organization’s executive director, Christine Martin. Mark Brownell, the Battalion Chief of Emergency Medical Services at Vashon Island Fire & Rescue (VIFR), said island paramedics and emergency medical technicians call upon the service two or more times per month, and he is straightforward in his belief about the importance of the membership program.

“If you live on the island, you should have it,” he said.

Most commonly, he said, he and his colleagues call in a helicopter when someone suffers a heart attack.

“Time is heart muscle,” he said. “The longer we take, the more damage that gets done.”

The same is true with strokes, he added. If medical care is provided quickly enough, there can be a complete reversal of symptoms.

“Our job is to get people there (to a hospital) fast and then have families and doctors determine how aggressive they want to be,” he added.

Airlift Northwest uses twin engine helicopters with many safety features, Martin said, and can fly on instruments if needed.

“We have the best equipment for this region,” she added.

While an important service in saving lives, medical helicopters are expensive to run; in fact, Martin said, it costs the organization more than $1 million a month to have the helicopters on the ground, staffed and ready to fly at a moment’s notice. That cost, in turn, is often passed on to patients. While some health insurance plans cover nearly the whole cost of the flight, other plans cover far less, Martin said. Welch noted he was lucky; his good Group Health coverage paid 98 percent of his $19,000 bill. For Brownell, the importance of being part of the membership program lies in those numbers. Even if a plan pays 80 percent of a flight, he said, the remainder is still a lot of money and typically comes due after patients and their families have already suffered a trauma.

The membership program, called AirCare, costs $79 for a year and covers everyone in a household for whatever amount of an emergency medical flight bill health insurance does not pay for. Airlift Northwest also has reciprocity agreements with other medical flight services up and down the West Coast and into Montana, Martin said.

As for Welch, who had thought he was suffering simply from a bad bout of food poisoning and initially protested being flown off the island, he changed his tune after he was hospitalized. He is now a card-carrying member of AirCare and is quick to speak to its value for the unexpected turns life sometimes takes.

“I bought it the next day,” he said.

When Airlift Northwest flies to the event on Sunday, it will land at the new helipad at Sunrise Ridge, which was recently upgraded, primarily with a $21,000 grant from Granny’s Attic.

Previously, the helipad was an area of broken up asphalt with grass growing through it and no lighting, said Dan Erin, secretary of the Sunrise Ridge board. Now, it is a 40-by 40-foot concrete pad with an 8-foot sidewalk leading to it, where two EMTs or paramedics can walk on either side of the gurney from the ambulance. Lighting has been installed that can be turned on at the ground level or in-air by pilots. A weather station that broadcasts Vashon’s weather to the pilots before they take off has also been added, Erin said. It provides information on wind velocity and direction, as well as temperature and dew point — indicators of the likelihood of ground fog. Finally, the old, tattered wind sock has also been replaced.

Erin added that Sunrise Ridge board members were aided considerably by David Ketchum, an airport and heliport architect based on Whidbey Island, who donated his services.

In addition to the helicopter attraction, several island vendors are expected to sell their items for the Tailgate Sale. Board member Carol Olson said 38 spaces are available — with additional spots possible — and many people have signed up for the 10- by 20-foot spots. More people are still welcome, she said, as are community nonprofits. The rates for a booth are $15 for an individual and $25 for a commercial vendor, and vendors keep the proceeds.

The intent is to get more people coming up to Sunrise Ridge, she said and noted that should the Franciscans leave and a new clinic not open, the situation at the site will be critical. For now, though, she said the board hopes to host future happenings like the one slated for Sunday.

“We would like to establish this as a more frequent event. We will see how it turns out this time,” she said.

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The sale will run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday, July3, at Sunrise Ridge. For more information, see sunriseridgehealthservices.org or call Carol Olson at 463-6672.

The helicopter is expected to land at the site between 11 a.m. and noon and stay until either it must respond to call or the event ends.

For more information on Airlift Northest or its AirCare program, see uwmedicine.org/airlift-nw.