James Matthew Guy


“Every flight mission is completely different. One patient Grace On Wings


in Florida was a snowbird who had a house up in northern Indiana. She was one of our hospice transports back home. Her family knew that she was dying, and we were able to get her back home for a couple weeks.


“She didn’t really talk to us during the flight, but she smiled a lot. That was a fun time,


because most often I’m taking people to a hospital, so seeing someone get excited about being home is a pretty phenomenal thing. To be able to put someone back in their bed at home and get them tucked in, you know they are where they want to be.”


“I’m always very impressed with how


people respond to me,” he said. “It’s amazing to me, the outpouring of support while we’re working.”


Balancing aspects | But the job isn’t without challenges. Flight nurses must be able to think critically, make quick assessments and then act on those decisions. Sometimes, they also have to be skilled diplomats. “You’re walking into somebody else’s


ER,” Coffel said. “You have doctors and nurses who have invested a lot of time and energy into this [patient]. They’re worried and scared. You’re just a nurse, but you walk in and take over. Sometimes the waters part to help you, but sometimes they’re hesitant to turn a patient over to people they don’t know.” The best part of the job, McCarty said,


is communicating with patients who have good outcomes. She recalled one boy whose prognosis was grave after he was struck by an SUV. Now years later, the boy is healthy. His parents still send McCarty updates about his milestones and good grades. “I think it’s the same as any kind of


nursing,” Coffel said. “The basic principle is still delivering the best care we can and ensuring the best outcomes we can get. You just happen to do it in a helicopter.”


The logistics | With Air Evac Lifeteam, McCarty is based at a regional airport, where she works a 24-hour shift and must be prepared to respond to an emergency within five minutes. She generally works five shifts every 14 days — usually two shifts one week and three the next. “You have to be on your A game not


just in the middle of the day, but also at two in the morning,” she said. Coffel is based at the heliport in


downtown Indianapolis; like McCarty, she works 24-hour shifts. Because of the focus on pediatric patients, the teams include of one nurse and one respiratory therapist.


James Matthew Guy, a volunteer flight nurse and paramedic for Grace onWings, tends to a patient while en route to a hospital.


Samaritan flight nurses are based at an


airport and work three days in 12-hour, alternating day and night shifts with another crew. Between helicopter flights, the nurses


restock medical supplies, train new recruits, prepare community educational programs and — when they can — rest up so they’ll be fresh for the next call. The situation is different for James


Matthew Guy, RN, BSN, NRETT, a volunteer flight nurse and paramedic for Grace on Wings in Plainfield: He also


Joe Ruley


SUBMITTED PHOTO


works full-time at Kosciusko Community Hospital. A pager notifies him whenever Grace on Wings needs assistance. Teams are assembled based on the availability of volunteer professionals (including pilots) who can meet the patient’s specific needs. The nonprofit organization is the


nation’s only charity airplane ambulance. Nicknamed “Nellie,” the plane is used for hospital-to-hospital transports of 150 miles or more, generally from one ICU to another. It also transports hospice


“A 3-year-old I went after one time had a lot of


Samaritan Flight Program


neurological trauma and hemodynamic trauma. I didn’t have time to miss an IV and start another one because I had to go on and do something else. I didn’t have time to make any mistakes. That’s why I


think there’s a higher power out there who helps us sometimes.


“I found out later that he was back in school and active, and that was really great. There are lots of miracle stories out there.”


Indiana Nursing Quarterly • indystar.com/nursing • Fall 2011 13


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