Today started off with lots of sun and a scene flight up north. Link to Today’s View.
Somehow, all the stars were aligned and I was able to make today one for the personal multi-media record books. So, with a bunch of photos and TWO videos, here is how the flight progressed!
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Launched: Lots of times the crew on the ground will give us a major land mark to shoot for. We use this with radio contact and/or grid coordinates. Finding an LZ (landing zone) at night can be easier due to the multitude of flashing lights.
Today, our major landmark was a river and a dam.
River with dam in lower left
Dam close up
Circling the Landing Zone: This is video of us checking out the landing area. The guys on the ground kept telling us cross streets when we had a difficult time finding them. Sometimes they forget that we have no street signs to reference . . .
Patient Care: Our patient was a driver who was ejected after the car rolled. Many times, the medics on scene already have the patient packaged (backboard, straps, blankets) and in the ambulance waiting for us. They do an assessment, get vital signs, have the patient on the monitor and usually have at least one IV established by the time we get there. Today was no exception.
Me (L) doing an assessment in
the back of the ambulance
Checking meds and prepping to go to the aircraft
To the Aircraft: The great thing about scene calls are all the firefighters who are there to help. This patient had to be carried to the aircraft due to terrain and snow.
Prepping to lift
Good to be the nurse!
With any flight, it is a relief when the patient can talk, which this patient was able to. Our goal is to be off the ground in under 20 minutes or so and today, we made it out in a matter of minutes. The ride to the trauma center by ground would have been 45 minutes or so. By flying her, we made it in approximately 15. For those of you familiar with the Golden Hour, those 30 minutes could mean the difference between life and death.
At the Hospital: The patient was transported safely, to my relief—as this is my goal for every patient transport. It is all the better when you have a great crew.
A photo of Tony, pilot, Me, flight nurse,
and Mark, flight physician.
The Cleanup: The actual patient transport is just part of the job. What we don’t usually talk about is the paperwork or the aircraft/equipment clean up. No, scrubbing blood is just not exciting, but has to be done.
Post-Flight clean up in the hanger
Another view
Back at the Hanger, Mini-vLog:
Thanks: Tony and Mark for a good day of flying. Gwen, Sandy, and Phil for keeping us straight while manning FlightCom. Oh, and props to Tony for taking the scene photos!
Flickr photo set here.
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