Posted on 07/14/2007 11:37:12 PM PDT by 60Gunner
I went to an EAA Fly-In with my son today. We noticed a sign that read:
FLY IN AN ANTIQUE BIPLANE! $60.
I looked at my son. My son looked at me.
Minutes later, we were strapped into the front seat of a radial-engined biplane of 1920s vintage, rolling onto the duty runway and grinning like a couple of mischievous scoolboys on a lark. The radial engine chugged and purred in that manner for which I dearly love radial engines. As we lined up, the pilot opened up the throttle. The purr changed to a roar and away we went. Suddenly, we were aloft and climbing into a clear summer sky. The wind sang through the struts and wires, buffeting my ears and tugging at the sleeves of my tee shirt.
I settled into my seat and rested my arms on the edges of the cockpit, luxuriating in the whole sensorium of this trip back in time to when flight was still a very dangerous and arcane craft. The slipstream combed back the hair on my arms, a quite pleasant sensation. My olfactory senses were filled with the heady melange of rubber, canvas doping, oil, high-octane avgas exhaust, and of fresh-cut fields. The sky was hazy above but clear below.
The pilot began gently turning, banking, climbing and diving, translating the laws of physics into a sensory playground. I felt that odd, ticklish feeling in my abdomen with the change from positive to negative Gs, as if I was going over the apex on a rollercoaster. The pilot banked steeply over the fields below, allowing us to fully appreciate the wonderful view afforded by an open cockpit.
I was in heaven.
I had been taking videos the entire time. I finally swung around around as the pilot's headphone-ensconsed head filled the viewfinder, he gave me a big grin and a thumbs up. He knew what we were feeling, and his grin told me he felt that way too. I briefly envied him for having the opportunity to do this all the time.
The flight lasted longer than usual- almost an hour- because the runway was clogged with other traffic. Dang.
Our landing was so gentle that the only way I knew we were down was by the brief screech of the tires as they made contact with the abrasive, inflexible earth. We taxied back to the grassy field and the engine coughed and chugged to a halt. Slowly and with great reluctance, we climbed out of the cockpit. I thanked the pilot for the experience, my jaw aching from the grin that seemed to have taken permanent residence on my face.
I sighed, preparing to re-enter the my mundane, earthbound world. Then, as I turned to walk away from the vintage aircraft, I saw it.
The Life Flight helicopter swooped into view, descended, swung around sharply, and landed with a kind of flair that seemed to say, "Ha. Look at that."
My heart went thumpity-thump. I looked at my son. My son looked at me.
By the time we got to the helicopter, the pilot had walked away to a nearby Honey Bucket. The flight nurses were facing away from me. One of them removed her helmet, revealing the page-bobbed, flaming red hair of my dear friend Nurse Dynamite. She gave me a big hug and shrieked, "Ahh! There you are, my darling!" She turned and gave my son an equally rib-crushing hug and said, "Boy, you are about ten feet taller than the last time I saw you!"
"I hear you will soon be joining us." she said with a conspiratorial smile.
"I'm thinking about it," I said sheepishly.
"Thinking about it!?" she said.
"Yeah."
"Have you ever sat in one of these beasts?"
"Well, no."
"Come along," Nurse Dynamite chided as she took my hand and pulled me along. "I shall help you to make up your mind." I felt like an errant schoolboy on his way to the dunce's chair. She led me to the door, pointed inside the helicopter, and commanded, "Park it right there, sweetheart."
I looked at her with a "Can I do this, really?" look. She smiled impishly and pointed again. I clambered into the cramped, narrow seat and surveyed the surroundings.
Holy CRAP, it is tight in here, I thought. I noticed the stretcher. It was locked onto a kind of trolley. The foot was tucked into the left front cockpit next to the pilot's seat. The head was parked neatly between two narrow forward-facing seats bolted to the after bulkhead of the cabin. I looked at Nurse Dynamite and said, "This doesn't look like a therapeutic environment. You can't reach the whole patient."
Nurse Dynamite cocked her head and smiled, saying, "Think about it. In a major trauma, we are interested in everything from the waist up because that's where all the vital organs are, and that's what we are trying to save."
"Oh, that makes sense."
"On the other hand, you can see how difficult starting an IV can be."
I looked again at the cramped quarters. "Yes, I can."
"But you can also see how the seats are situated perfectly for dropping an endotracheal tube."
I looked again and said, "Of course. Well, now it makes perfect sense. It's all ABCs, after all, isn't it?"
"Yep! So what are you waiting for?"
"Experience. I need a couple more years in the ER."
"We'll be waiting."
I looked down at Nurse Dynamite's helmet. I noticed a huge sticker of that cartoon bunny smiling and pointing at its butt. That figures, I thought, and I chuckled.
Suddenly, a childlike excitement overcame me, and I hurriedly asked, "Will I have to buy my own helmet?"
"Naw! They give you one. But you have to put something on it," she answered mischievously. "Like a nickname or something."
"Why not Gunner?"
"No... it would not comfort your patients to look up and see the name 'Gunner' on his nurse's helmet. he might think he's on a combat chopper or something."
"Well, that's easy," My son snorted. "Call him 'Duke'."
Nurse Dynamite's jaw dropped and she looked at me with a shocked expression. "Duke!?"
"Yeah, like John Wayne. You know, The Duke," my son explained. "Dad loves John Wayne."
"How perfect!" Nurse Dynamite exclaimed, her voice squeaking, as she clasped her hands onto my arms. "Duke!"
I blushed. I really blushed. I smiled and surreptitiously shot my son an "I'm gonna kill you" look. He laughed, of course.
The pilot broke our reverie by jogging to the helicopter, stuffing himself into the cockpit, and flipping switches.
"Whoops! Gotta go, darling!" Nurse Dynamite said as she pulled on her helmet with the "You smell like butt" sticker on it. She gave me a hug and a peck on the cheek, and did the same for my son, telling him, "Give your mom my love, will ya?"
The boy nodded.
"See ya, Duke!"
"See ya, firecracker," I answered with a pat on her helmeted head, and we dashed out of the landing area. The hatch shut with a thump. The Agusta wound up quickly, its turbine whining. The rotors bit with their chest-thumping thrum. The helicopter lifted off and sped into the distance.
I saw myself there, with more clarity than ever I had before.
Yeah, that’s the cartoon bunny. Only on Nurse Dynamite’s helmet the bunny has its back facing the viewer, has its face turned toward the viewer with a smile, and is pointing to its butt. I’ll try to find the picture.
Even I can hear you father saying: “Don’t make me come down there!”
There is a long line of people who know you and have worn wings, in this world and the next, praying for you and cheering you on.
They will gladly drag your @ss out to the flight line if you don’t haul it out there, pronto!
“Into the distance....” Follow your dream.
In all seriousness, in the future there WILL be someone on a Life Flight who needs you. Will you be there?
I am taking the path that leads me to be a Flight Nurse. If the Lord wants me to be one, He'll clear the way as long as I keep moving and trust Him. If it turns out that it isn't what He wants, I know Him well enough to know that He'll steer me in the direction He wants me to go. But like a car, He can't steer me if I ain't movin'. So I'm movin.'
You won't have to drag me. If God wants me to be a flight nurse, you can bet that I'll be sprinting there as fast as I can go!
Hi, Joe. Yeah, that’s the “kiss my butt” bunny. My friend had the “kiss my butt bunny” sticker on her helmet.
Back to flight nursing:
Is it another certification? Do you need to return to school or is there an internship? Is there an organization near you where you can do this? Basically, how does one become a flight nurse?
I have one more year to comlete my BSN so I am interested in the process. I am externing in the ICU and loving the intensity of critical care. There is just nothing like it in the world. I just watch in awe at the seasoned nurses (and take notes).
As far as prerequisites education is concerned, the following pretty much summarizes them:
You have to be in good physical condition. it does the patient no good if his nurse craps out with a heart attack on top of the poor guy. And obese nurses tend to make it hard for the aircraft to get off the ground and increase fuel consumption... If they can even squeeze their bulk into a helicopter cabin. It isn't easy for even a fairly thin guy like me.
One must be a licensed Registered Nurse (RN). LPNs are not considered because many of the tasks associated with being a flight nurse are beyond the scope of practice of LPNs. They may involve starting IVs, drawing arterial blood gas assays, endotracheal intubation, mixing medications, and giving high-risk IV medications (i.e. dopamine, lidocaine, proparicaine, diltiazem, etc). All of this is done, of course, in a fast-moving, bumpy, noisy helicopter or fixed-wing aircraft, sometimes in lousy weather.
The airlift organization for which I am gunning for requires a minimum of 5 years of experience as an Emergency/Trauma nurse. Additional experience as a Critical or Cardiac Care nurse is also preferred, particularly if one desires to work aboard fixed-wing aircraft transporting patients to other regions or states.
Essentially, it boils down to getting the required ER/ICU experience, applying for a position with the airlift organization when and if one appears, and going through the interview process. It may take a few go-rounds before getting selected. When selected, the nurse goes through a one-year training program/residency. The nurse will learn about high-altitude medicine, flight emergencies, flight systems, communication, and a myriad of other core competencies too numerous to go into right now.
And there is the chance that the nurse can "wash out" even after a year of training. You can see why the organizations are so picky right off the bat.
The Emergency Nurses Association does provide a recognized certification for flight nurses. Oddly enough, it is called Certified Flight Nurse. It's nice to have, and certainly nets you a few bucks an hour more, but it isn't mandatory that I know of. However, from my standpoint, it's a professional pride thing.
Other certifications that will certainly make the RN more attractive are Certified Emergency Nurse (CEN), Certified Critical Care Nurse (CCRN), Certified Advanced Trauma Nurse (CATN), Pediatric Advanced Life Support (PALS), Emergency Nursing Pediatric Course (ENPC), and of course Advanced Cardiopulmonary Life Support (ACLS).
It's not really as daunting as it looks. You can get most of those certs within your first year of nursing. ACLS and either ENPC or PALS are required by hospitals for ER or ICU nurses anyway, so you'll take those courses within the first six months of your career.
I'm currently going for my CEN and CATN certification. Then I will try to get some ICU experience by working there on a per diem basis. After a few more years, I;ll apply.
It's merely a function of time and experience. And crossing my fingers. And saying "pretty pleeeeeeeeeze!"
Of course, it also helps that one of my good friends also happens to be a flight nurse and instructor. That, my dear friend, is called "serendipity."
Let me know if I can help you with and study issues. We also learn by teaching. We never stop learning, really. It's one of the things I enjoy the most about nursing.
Keep the faith, kiddo. /Duke
In the words of the Man...PRESS! You won’t know until you try. Ain’t nothing worse than a dream you give up on.
Duke,
I’d gratuitously ask about your upcoming book, but I’ve done that a few times, already.
In a rough sense, what is the accreditation for an RN certification? Since I know you’re a local, as far as I can tell, Seattle University and Highline CC are the best Voc-Techs I can determine.
The demand is certainly there - now, someone like you is the obvious curve-breaker. Nursing is HUGE.
-J
But the basic premise is that the more the advanced the licensure, the more heavy in nursing arts and sciences the preparation. I am looking at obtaining my Doctorate in Nursing Practice degree in the next four years. (Sounds like an oxymoron: Doctorate of Nursing.)
Needless to say, I have a lot of irons in the fire right now, and that's part of why I am being so careful about the degree to which I commit myself.
The one thing that sealed it for me was that while I was sitting in the helicopter, I lamented that I would love to be aflight nurse but that I was ramping up to get my D-NP. Nurse Dynamite laughed and said, "Well, you can do both, you know!"
And it's true. As I study for my Doctorate, I will also be accumulating more experience in Emergency/Trauma and also Critical Care nursing. My friend helped to make all the pieces fall into place.
So in response to everyone's encouraging words here, I wish to say: OKAY. I GET IT. I'M GOING FOR IT.
Drive on!
/Duke (That's gonna take some getting used to.)
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