INQ Digital Edition

8/3/2019 INQ Digital Edition

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NURSES TAKE WING TO SAVE LIVES

FLIGHTNIGHT

Q U A R T E R L Y

I N D I A N A



By Ashley Petry

Patient care atthe highest level

Cover Story

Autonomy and adrenaline. These qualities appeal toight nurses, who do their jobs thousands of feet in the air.Some work in helicopters, providing on-site trauma care and short-

range hospital-to-hospital transfers. Others work in airplanes, whichoer longer-range transport for patients heading to rehabilitation orhospice programs. A typical ight team includes a nurse, paramedicand pilot. Regardless of their specialty, ight nurses agree on one

thing: Theirs is a tremendously rewarding job a nurse can have.



A job to love | Beore Samantha McCarty, RN,

PHRN, EMT-B, became a fight nurse, she worked or

years in the emergency department o a rural hospital.

The acility requently used emergency helicopters to

transer patients. Eight years ago, she jumped at the

chance to join Air Evac Lieteam and now is stationed at

the helicopter base in

Brazil, Ind.

“I like the autonomy,” McCarty said. “I don’t have a

doctor over my shoulder saying, ‘Give Tylenol. Do this.

Do that.’ My partner and I put our brains together, assessthe patient and treat the patient.”

Barbara Coel, RN, MSN, CNS, is a pediatric fight

nurse with Indiana University Health LieLine. She pursued

the career more than 20 years ago when her son, then 10,

suered recurrent cerebral aneurysms and needed to be

transported to Riley Hospital or Children.

“You have the ability to really make a dierence — to

make a huge dierence — especially when we’re talking

about babies,” she said. “The things you do in the rst 5

or 10 minutes can make all the dierence in the world in

terms o the outcome.”

That level o responsibility might intimidate some nurses,

but not Joe Ruley, RN. A career with the Samaritan Flight

Program, a service o Parkview Health in Fort Wayne, is

ideal or this ormer emergency-

room nurse, who also is a license

as a private pilot. He now splits

his time between on-site trauma

cases, such as trac accidents,

and hospital-to-hospital transers.

“I’m always very impressed

with how people respond to

me,” he said. “It ’s amazing to me, the outpouring o

support while we’re working.”

Balancing aspects | But the job isn’t without

challenges. Flight nurses must be able to think critically,

make quick assessments and then act on those

decisions. Sometimes, they also have to be skilled

diplomats.

“You’re walking into somebody else’s ER,” Coel said.

“You have doctors and nurses who have invested a lot

o time and energy into this

[patient]. They’re worried and

scared. You’re just a nurse,

but you walk in and take over.

Sometimes the waters part

to help you, but sometimesthey’re hesitant to turn a

patient over to people they

don’t know.”

The best part o the job,

McCarty said, is communicating

with patients who have good

outcomes. She recalled one boy

whose prognosis was grave ater he was struck by an SUV.

Now years later, the boy is healthy. His parents still send

McCarty updates about his milestones and good grades.

“I think it’s the same as any kind o nursing,” Coel

Barbara Coel, a fight nurse or IndianaUniversity Health LieLine, perorms apre-fight check.

said. “The basic principle is still delivering the best care we

can and ensuring the best outcomes we can get. You just

happen to do it in a helicopter.”

The logistics | With Air Evac

Lieteam, McCarty is based at a

regional airport, where she works a

24-hour shit and must be prepared

to respond to an emergency within

ve minutes. She generally works ve

shits every 14 days — usually two shits

one week and three the next.

“You have to be on your A game not

just in the middle o the day, but also at

two in the morning,” she said.

Coel is based at the heliport in

downtown Indianapolis; like McCarty,

she works 24-hour shits. Because o

the ocus on pediatric patients, the

teams include o one nurse and one

respiratory therapist.

Samaritan fight nurses are based at an airport and work

three days in 12-hour, alternating day and night shits with

another crew.

Between helicopter fights, the nurses restock medical

supplies, train new recruits, prepare community

educational programs and — when they can — rest up so

SamanthaMcCarty

Air Evac Lifeteam

INQDepth:

Samantha McCarthy, a fight nurse or Air Evac Lieteam, recently was awardedthe National Flight Nurse o the Year byher company.

Joe Ruley Samaritan

Flight Program

INQDepth:

http://www.indystar.com/

http://www.indystar.com/



James Matthew Guy, a volunteer ight nurse and paramedic for Grace on Wings, tends to a patient while en route to a hospital.

they’ll be resh or the next call.

The situation is diferent or James Matthew Guy, RN,

BSN, NRETT, a volunteer ight nurse and paramedic or

Grace on Wings in Plaineld: He also works ull-time at

Kosciusko Community Hospital. A pager noties him

whenever Grace on Wings needs

assistance. Teams are assembled

based on the availability o

volunteer proessionals (including

pilots) who can meet the patient’s

specic needs.

The nonprot organization is

the nation’s only charity airplaneambulance. Nicknamed “Nellie,” the plane is used or

hospital-to-hospital transports o 150 miles or more,

generally rom one ICU to another. It also transports

hospice patients who wish to return home.

Training requirements | Being a ight nurse requires

extensive training and certication. When McCarty

applied to Air Evac Lieteam, she had to have hal a dozen

specic certications, such as ACLS and PALS, beore

her application even would be considered. The company

also requires applicants to have at least three years o

experience in a busy emergency department or ICU.

Many companies require applicants to pass written tests

and simulations. Some require a grade o 100 percent

beore considering an application.

Ater being hired, nurses get even more training. For

McCarty, that included a three-week ight academy and

oral board exams.

Flight nurses work under the license o their medical

directors, who are emergency-department physicians.

They must be trained in skills that nurses don’t normally

perorm, such as inserting chest tubes, and oten

are required to practice those skills during in-service

workshops.

Airplane nurses also are trained in ight physiology,ocusing on the impact o altitude and cabin pressure on

patients with certain conditions.

Regardless o a nurse’s trauma experience, ight nursing

comes with its own set o challenges. Most companies

partner new recruits with seasoned proessionals who act

as mentors. Although the hurdles to entry are high, ight

nurses say the extra efort is worth it.

“My job satisaction is amazing because I love what I do,”

McCarty said. “I love taking care o patients and using my

knowledge to help someone in their time o need. We

need to be the best part o their worst day, and I take

pride in that, in helping someone at a dicult time.”●

JamesMatthew Guy Grace On Wings

INQDepth:

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