This is the accumulation of many stories spanning nearly two decades of one person's career on an air medical helicopter based at a Northern California trauma center. A career that starts with being a paramedic student when only a few counties in California even had paramedics. Working on an ambulance then joining the helicopter crew as a flight paramedic and eventually on to becoming a flight nurse.
Watching and learning the growth of the helicopter as an air ambulance from the early days of seat-of-your-pants flying to the acceptance of national standards in air medical safety.
From practical joking to literally holding someone's heart in his hands, the author takes you on a whirlwind journey of the fast paced world of helicopter and emergency department medicine. Near-death experiences, saving lives that shouldn't have been savable, and the agony of holding someone in your arms as they slowly slip away.
This is the accumulation of many stories spanning nearly two decades of one person's career on an air medical helicopter based at a Northern California trauma center. A career that starts with being a paramedic student when only a few counties in California even had paramedics. Working on an ambulance then joining the helicopter crew as a flight paramedic and eventually on to becoming a flight nurse.
Watching and learning the growth of the helicopter as an air ambulance from the early days of seat-of-your-pants flying to the acceptance of national standards in air medical safety.
From practical joking to literally holding someone's heart in his hands, the author takes you on a whirlwind journey of the fast paced world of helicopter and emergency department medicine. Near-death experiences, saving lives that shouldn't have been savable, and the agony of holding someone in your arms as they slowly slip away.