Fly the Friendly Skies

If I ever go into cardiac arrest while in flight, I certainly hope it's in the back of medical helicopter.  While waiting for a patient to be airlifted to our cath lab, we received a call from the chopper informing us that the patient had started coding mid-flight.  Rushing a code cart and meds up to the helipad with a couple of nurses, I got to run out onto the roof in the middle of the night to unload the patient with the rotors still spinning.  By the time they touched down, they had shocked him back into sinus, and we headed straight to the cath lab.

Every time they come through, I'm always really impressed with the flight crew.  About a year ago, one of the nurses from our department left to become a flight nurse, and described the incredible amount of knowledge they need to possess before they leave the ground.  The team usually consists of an RN and paramedic, with one or both also certified as a Respiratory Therapist.  Working highly independently in cramped spaces with critically ill patients several hundred feet in the air sounds like a pretty cool way to make a living.