In the News...

Please follow the link for an article about Navy Enroute Care Nursing with quotes from 2 of our nurses here at TQ.

Volunteer Navy Nurses Serve as Skyway Angels

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http://www.usmc.mil/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/92253599E321409A852572C200170567?opendocument


And here is the text version without pictures:


Marine Corps News

Volunteer Navy nurses serve as Skyway Angels

April 19, 2007; Submitted on: 04/19/2007 12:11:27 AM ; Story ID#: 200741901127

By Cpl. Wayne Edmiston, 2nd Marine Logistics Group



AL TAQADDUM, Iraq (April 19, 2007) -- The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines an angel as an attendant spirit or guardian.
In famous art, artists often depicted angels as human-like beings, with white robes and wings, serving as transporters of messages from other celestial beings.

Many seriously wounded service members in Iraq can testify angels aren’t always dressed in white. Several wear tan flight suits and their wings are merely the rotors of soaring aircraft.

These particular angels remain faithful to the Merriam-Webster definition by serving as attendant spirits, as well as guardians – guardians of life.

These guardians are called en-route care nurses and fly onboard casualty evacuation helicopters to stabilize and monitor patients being transferred to a larger treatment facility.

When Operation Iraqi Freedom first started, patients were often accompanied by a hospital corpsman, or no caretaker at all. Medical professionals in Iraq knew there had to be a change.

Lieutenant Cmdr. Troy L. King, an enroute care nurse with Al Taqaddum Surgical Detachment, 2nd Maintenance Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group (Forward), was one of the ground level participants when nurses began jumping aboard with flight crews.

In 2004, medical personnel realized that in-flight patients were not receiving the same quality of care that they would at established facilities, according to King.

“So they started flying nurses with them,” he said.

The nurses who initially began flying were, and even to this day are, volunteers. They volunteer to fly with patients without the extra flight pay and flight status other aircraft crewmembers receive.

Lieutenant Lora A. Martin, an ERC nurse with the detachment, explained the process the patient and nurse must go through prior to boarding the aircraft.

“The people we transport often are treated in the OR (operating room) because of how serious their injury is,” the North Platte, Neb., native explained. “Being in the OR is critical because that is where we get our most valuable information on our patients.”

During the flight, the nurse is continuously monitoring the patient’s vital signs, adjusting ventilators, giving donated blood to the patient, giving pain medications and keeping them stable.

The possibility of a breathing tube moving out of place or a power failure in the aircraft knocking out vital life-preserving machinery is one of many worries rushing through the heads of the nurses onboard, Martin explained.

This process can be even more difficult when flying over enemy territory where the risk of hostile fire can become a hindering factor, or at night, when the only light the nurses have to work by is the faint blue cabin light.

Once they arrive at advanced care facilities in Al Asad, Balad or Baghdad, they turn the patient over to the local staff and ERC nurses begin the trip back.

The job has obvious satisfaction. Seeing their patient arrive alive is always a plus, but not every story has a successful conclusion for these nurses, and some patients don’t always make it to the next echelon of care.

When the mission is accomplished, the patient often will never remember the nurse who kept them alive during that golden period, but the nurses often remember their patients.

“I have seen some of my patients in the news and there are a couple of patients I remember who I know are still alive,” said King, a Hemphall, Texas, native. “Patient survival is the most rewarding part of my job.”
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The en-route care nurses of Al Taqaddum surgical stand in front of a UH-60 Blackhawk casualty evacuation helicopter here April 15. When Operation Iraqi Freedom first started, patients evacuated were often accompanied by a hospital corpsman, or no caretaker at all. Medical professionals in Iraq knew there had to be a change and began putting nurses on board. Photo by: Cpl. Wayne EdmistonThe en-route care nurses of Al Taqaddum surgical stand in front of a UH-60 Blackhawk casualty evacuation helicopter here April 15. When Operation Iraqi Freedom first started, patients evacuated were often accompanied by a hospital corpsman, or no caretaker at all. Medical professionals in Iraq knew there had to be a change and began putting nurses on board. Photo by: Cpl. Wayne Edmiston
A UH-60 Blackhawk casualty evacuation helicopter sits in front of Al Taqaddum surgical here March 26. When Operation Iraqi Freedom first started, patients evacuated were often accompanied by a hospital corpsman, or no caretaker at all. Medical professionals in Iraq knew there had to be a change and began putting nurses on board. Photo by: Cpl. Wayne EdmistonA UH-60 Blackhawk casualty evacuation helicopter sits in front of Al Taqaddum surgical here March 26. When Operation Iraqi Freedom first started, patients evacuated were often accompanied by a hospital corpsman, or no caretaker at all. Medical professionals in Iraq knew there had to be a change and began putting nurses on board. Photo by: Cpl. Wayne Edmiston