When Lindsay Matthias started to experience flu-like symptoms two years ago, her mother Michelle thought it was just that: the flu. But it turned out the Peotone teen had a severe blood infection.

In an attempt to save her life, doctors at a hospital in Kankakee ordered an air ambulance to transport her to Children’s Memorial Hospital, where she experienced two cardiac arrests and spent the next three weeks recovering.

Had Lindsay not been transported by a helicopter, doctors say she would have died.

“Time was of the essence, and also the biggest factor that we had against us,” Michelle Matthias said this morning at a press conference at Children’s Memorial Hospital in Lincoln Park.

“Every second counts,” said Patrick M. Magoon, president and CEO of Children’s, which is poised to open its new Streeterville location in the summer of 2012.

A controversial plan to install a heliport on top of the Streeterville hospital is up for debate next week, as the hospital hosts a series of public hearings at the Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center to lay out its plan for the heliport and to hear Streeterville residents’ concerns.

Hospital officials maintain a heliport for the 22-story building is essential for treating its young patients, when they are critically ill or injured. For more than 20 years, Children’s has had a heliport at its current Lincoln Park location, which while densely populated, lacks the taller buildings surrounding the Streeterville area.

However, Streeterville residents say giving access to helicopters in such a crowded area could be a recipe for disaster and they want further study of the idea.

Patty Frost, a board member of Streeterville Organization of Active Residents, says too many questions regarding safety are unanswered.

“Where would a helicopter emergency land in Streeterville?” she says. Experts retained by SOAR are expected to discuss the challenges of nighttime landings next week, one of the group’s core concerns.

“The challenge is what a pilot is going to have to deal with in an urban nighttime environment,” Frost says. “You’ve got the tall buildings, you’ve got all the twinkly lights, which actually impair a pilot’s visible ability.”

Hospital officials says detailed studies regarding air traffic and downtown wind patterns show a heliport will be safe. The Federal Aviation Administration also has determined a heliport would be safe.

“We looked at that, and we determined that helicopter operations can be operated in the location they’re talking about,” says FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro.

To further the point, Children’s chief nurse executive Michelle Stephenson laid out a series of safety guidelines, including installing state-of-the-art navigation and weather systems in dual-engine helicopters; prohibiting flights if wind exceeds 25 knots or gusts exceed 15 knots and sharing quarterly reports with residents.

IDOT released a letter of intent to approve the measure in September, but it includes provisions to weigh public testimony and the public’s best interests before a decision is made. It could take several months before IDOT makes a decision, says IDOT spokeswoman Marisa Kollias.

Only patients to be treated at Children’s would have access to the heliport, and nearby Northwestern Memorial Hospital does not have helicopter capabilities.

Hospital officials say the heliport would be used only when necessary. Records show that the Lincoln Park heliport was used 44 times in the first two quarters of 2008. It was used 118 times in 2007 and 150 times in 2006. In 2003, it was used 93 times.

Northwestern investigated installing a heliport in 1986, but ditched the plan after discovering it would be available to use only 40 percent of the time. Magoon says the Children’s heliport would be available about 90 percent of the time, barring inclement weather or high winds.

The hearings at the Lurie Research Center, 303 E. Superior, take place next Wednesday through Friday, from 6 to 10 p.m on each day. On Wednesday, Children’s officials will lay out their plans. Streeterville residents will respond Thursday, and the public is invited to speak Friday. The hearings will be moderated by an administrative law judge.