Anatomy of a Flight Nurse

It looks exciting. The jet-powered helicopter screams across thesky, heading towards Harborview Medical Center with anothercritically-ill patient on board. Friends and family willprobably say later that "he's lucky to be alive". The reality isthat the person is alive because of the skills and talents ofemergency flight nurses like Erin Reed.

Born in Bellflower, and raised in Petaluma California, ErinReed, 46, is doing what she does best: emergency medicalservices (EMS). "This is my passion," says Reed, "It was what Iwas meant to do." Coworkers won't argue with that. According tofriend and fellow flight nurse Sandra Koopman, "In criticalsituations, things can move very fast. Erin has the ability tofocus in on the situation without being distracted."

A former paramedic with the Marin County Fire Department, Reednow relishes her career as a flight nurse with AirliftNorthwest, the region's primary emergency air transportorganization.

To be a flight nurse for Airlift Northwest is no smallachievement. All medical personnel are registered nurses and allare required to have advanced life support training with aminimum of five years critical care experience.

Started as an adjunct to the Medic One paramedic system of KingCounty, Airlift Northwest now provides emergency air servicesprimarily to Washington, Alaska, Montana and Idaho, withadditional flights to other states and Canada. Airlift Northwestflies four Agusta A109 helicopters based in Seattle, Arlington,Bellingham and Puyallup. Lear jets are located in Seattle andJuneau with a Commander GC690C based in Wenatchee.

Each helicopter flies with a pilot and two nurses. Reed enjoysthe camaraderie. "You definitely need to be a team player to bein this line of work. You work together, you support each otherand decompress together. You spend more time with these peoplethan you do at home."

Reed hadn't always wanted to be in Emergency Services. "Ioriginally wanted to be a doctor, but I changed my mind afterthe fire."

The 'fire' she refers to is a tragic episode of being in thewrong place at the wrong time. Upon arriving at a party that hadgotten out of hand, Reed saw a Molotov cocktail explode right infront of her. The experience changed her life. There were weeksof painful skin graft surgeries followed by a long period ofphysical therapy. Her physical therapist suggested she learn toski, since that would aid in her recovery, particularly for herbadly injured hands and wrists.

She moved to Colorado and immersed herself in the sport. Hergrandfather was a fire chief there and that's when she gotinterested in becoming an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) .She has never looked back.

Reed thinks that she's got the attitude and qualities needed foremergency services. "I'm direct and I'm not afraid of conflict,"she says. "But you also have to be a team player and be able tomake decisions and stand by them," she adds.

Reed also believes that nurses should be politically involved.She is a passionate patient advocate. "One of the hallmarks ofnursing is patient advocacy," Reed says, "when we have theopportunity to speak up, we should do it not only for ourselves,but for the public we represent."

When she was the only woman in an all male fire department inMarin County (the only woman to pass the physical exam), shestill concentrated on doing the job. "You need to prove yourself, everybody does." Says Reed, "If I didn't think I was as goodas the best, I wouldn't have stayed."

Reed offers some good advice for anybody getting into emergencyservices. "Get a mentor," she insists. "Find some one withexperience that you respect and learn what you can."

Reed also says it's a good idea to get some experience in thefield before committing to more specialized training, she says,reflecting on her own strategy. "Get some education, get someexperience, discover your interest and build on it."

What's the most satisfying part about the job for Reed? "Knowingthat when I get one of those critically ill patients to thehospital alive - that they wouldn't have made it without me."