Helicopter part of York police summer camp fun

A group of rambunctious children sat in the dugout at a baseball field and watched the excitement playing out in left field.

Except they weren’t playing baseball.

Instead of squinting into the sky to watch a pop fly, the children watched as a medical helicopter slowly landed on the field.

There was no emergency. No one had been injured by a foul ball.

The kids were there for the first York Police Department Summer Camp, where community service agencies such as police, fire department, forensics crews, a bomb squad and others gave the campers up-close-and-personal lessons about community services.

On Friday, a crew from Carolinas Medical Center flew in a medical helicopter from Charlotte for the children to explore from the ground – “instead of just seeing it in the air,” said Sgt. Dale Edwards of the York Police Department.

“Who knows, this may encourage one of these children to become a pilot or flight nurse,” Edwards said.

The police department held the five-day camp at the York Recreation Center for children ages 8 to 12. More than 25 signed up for the free activities.

“These kids, all they want is attention,” Edwards said. “It just goes all over their faces ... they are wanting to do it again next year, next week.”

This story was originally published June 10, 2016 at 6:39 PM with the headline "Helicopter part of York police summer camp fun."