WEBVTT - A Mother To The Rescue 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:03.240 Oddly enough, and this is gonna sound so funny, I 0:00:03.279 --> 0:00:07.480 am a baseball field person, like I look for a 0:00:07.480 --> 0:00:09.280 baseball field every time we take off. 0:00:09.320 --> 0:00:10.720 Oh look there's a baseball field. 0:00:11.119 --> 0:00:13.800 Maybe it's the softball player in me, but I love 0:00:13.920 --> 0:00:16.360 to see them from up high. 0:00:16.680 --> 0:00:20.640 That's Asia B. She's thirty years old, lives in Maryland, 0:00:21.079 --> 0:00:24.840 and technically speaking, she's a critical care transport nurse at 0:00:24.880 --> 0:00:29.360 a large pediatric hospital in Philadelphia. But Asia's version of 0:00:29.440 --> 0:00:33.920 critical care transport nursing is quite unique because she's what's 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:36.920 referred to in her line of work as a flight nurse. 0:00:37.840 --> 0:00:38.160 Yeah. 0:00:38.200 --> 0:00:41.479 So, a flight nurse is someone who essentially goes and 0:00:41.520 --> 0:00:45.000 picks up patients in aircraft that can either be a helicopter, 0:00:45.200 --> 0:00:47.800 it could be a fixed wing, or any of those 0:00:47.880 --> 0:00:49.640 kind of vehicles that fly. 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:56.720 In honor of International Nurses Day, I spoke with Asia 0:00:56.800 --> 0:00:59.680 about her job as a flight nurse, why she fell 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:02.520 in love with such a risky career, and how she 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:06.400 balances the demands of such an intense job with motherhood 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:10.200 and everything else she's got going on in life. And 0:01:10.240 --> 0:01:13.160 if you've never heard of flight nursing, you're not alone. 0:01:13.800 --> 0:01:18.000 Because prior to taking this job. Neither had Asia, but 0:01:18.080 --> 0:01:21.600 as an experienced er nurse and a self described thrill seeker, 0:01:22.120 --> 0:01:24.600 Asia knew the moment she heard that you could take 0:01:24.640 --> 0:01:27.480 care of patients while soaring through the air that she'd 0:01:27.520 --> 0:01:32.240 found the job for her. There was only one little issue. 0:01:32.480 --> 0:01:40.119 She'd never been in a helicopter before. Tell me about 0:01:40.160 --> 0:01:42.760 that first flight you took. Were you nervous? 0:01:43.440 --> 0:01:45.319 So we got a page and they send you an 0:01:45.360 --> 0:01:48.559 alert saying this is dispatch, this is the patient and. 0:01:48.440 --> 0:01:49.920 They're like, yeah, you guys are going to go up 0:01:49.920 --> 0:01:52.600 for a flight today. And I was like what. 0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:55.160 They're like, yeah, you're going to go up in the 0:01:55.200 --> 0:01:56.680 helicopter today. 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:00.320 And then, as she explained it, things started getting really 0:02:01.120 --> 0:02:03.240 She and her team take the elevator to the top 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:06.480 floor of the hospital and then walk out to the helipad. 0:02:07.120 --> 0:02:11.160 It's cold and it's windy, and her adrenaline is pumping. 0:02:11.360 --> 0:02:14.080 And then the nurse who had came with that crew 0:02:14.400 --> 0:02:15.920 is like, oh, is this your first flight. 0:02:16.000 --> 0:02:16.680 I'm like, yup. 0:02:17.040 --> 0:02:18.919 She was like oh okay, Like here's the you know, I'm 0:02:18.919 --> 0:02:20.800 gonna show you the parts of the helicopter. Stay in 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:22.360 the front, don't walk towards the back. 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:24.320 It's kind of like when you're having a baby. They're 0:02:24.320 --> 0:02:24.960 telling you all. 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:27.800 These things and you're like, I can't focus, like and 0:02:27.840 --> 0:02:29.320 then I must have got too far away. 0:02:29.360 --> 0:02:31.079 She was like, stay close, member. I was like, oh god, 0:02:31.240 --> 0:02:32.720 I forgot already. 0:02:37.320 --> 0:02:40.520 Fortunately for Asia, the first flight was to bring her 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:43.480 out to a patient that they were picking up for transport, 0:02:43.840 --> 0:02:47.079 so she could focus on the flight itself, get over 0:02:47.160 --> 0:02:51.480 those first flight jitters, which for her immediately faded the 0:02:51.520 --> 0:02:53.120 minute the helicopter took off. 0:02:53.720 --> 0:02:55.800 I thought it was gonna be a lot more bumpy, 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:58.040 but it was very smooth. It was. It was amazing. 0:02:58.040 --> 0:03:00.040 It was just amazing being like that high up. 0:03:01.440 --> 0:03:04.480 As you can imagine. Being a nurse and a helicopter 0:03:04.639 --> 0:03:06.720 is a heck of a lot different from nursing in 0:03:06.720 --> 0:03:10.400 a hospital. For one thing, it's really tightened here. 0:03:10.840 --> 0:03:13.120 So a helicopter is definitely a confined space. 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:16.080 It is so small, even though I'm only five feet, 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:18.320 can't even like stand up inside of it, that's how 0:03:18.360 --> 0:03:18.920 small it is. 0:03:19.960 --> 0:03:22.520 And unlike a hospital that has a well stocked supply 0:03:22.639 --> 0:03:25.239 room and all the machines and monitors and nurse could 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:29.280 need the limited space of a helicopter means Asia and 0:03:29.360 --> 0:03:33.160 her team need to pack wisely and bring only the essentials. 0:03:34.320 --> 0:03:37.840 Our resources are pretty much what you bring in your pocket. 0:03:37.920 --> 0:03:40.440 So we wear something called a flight suit and it 0:03:40.480 --> 0:03:43.480 has about like twelve bockets on it and you can 0:03:43.560 --> 0:03:44.320 stick things in it. 0:03:44.400 --> 0:03:45.640 I have like flushes. 0:03:45.840 --> 0:03:48.480 I am like my alcohol swaps because there's not a 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:50.360 lot of moving, Like you can't go reaching in a 0:03:50.400 --> 0:03:52.640 bunch of bags and doing a bunch of moving around. 0:03:53.160 --> 0:03:56.120 Not to mention, they're up there flying through the air. 0:03:56.600 --> 0:04:00.560 It's just her a partner and the pilot doesn't know 0:04:00.600 --> 0:04:03.640 how to do something. She can't page someone on another 0:04:03.720 --> 0:04:06.960 floor to come help. So this means that a flight 0:04:07.080 --> 0:04:10.320 nurse like Asia has to be on top of their game. 0:04:10.840 --> 0:04:12.960 One of the things that I always tell new nurses 0:04:13.280 --> 0:04:15.720 in the moment, it'll come to you. 0:04:16.040 --> 0:04:19.680 And that trust Asia has in her skills, that confidence 0:04:19.760 --> 0:04:23.560 in herself to rise to the moment stems from her 0:04:23.600 --> 0:04:25.560 training as an athlete. 0:04:25.760 --> 0:04:27.960 I played softball in high school. 0:04:28.160 --> 0:04:29.680 I used to get on the dirt and I used 0:04:29.680 --> 0:04:31.440 to be like, I hope a ball doesn't come to 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:33.200 me right, because you don't want to make a mistake. 0:04:33.240 --> 0:04:35.360 You don't want an error. You're worried about these things. 0:04:35.680 --> 0:04:37.200 I'm like, I hope a ball doesn't come to me. 0:04:37.320 --> 0:04:39.719 And my softball coach, she said, if you're on this 0:04:39.760 --> 0:04:41.640 field and you hope the ball doesn't come to you, 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:43.240 then we have an issue. 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:44.960 And it's kind of the same thing in nursing. 0:04:44.960 --> 0:04:47.000 When you first start out and you're a new nurse, 0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:49.760 you're like, I hope I don't get a hard patient. 0:04:50.040 --> 0:04:51.680 I hope I don't get an IVY today. 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:53.920 You know, it's one of those things where that that 0:04:54.080 --> 0:04:56.760 is a notice that you need to step your skills up, 0:04:56.839 --> 0:04:58.799 because when you go to work, you should be saying, 0:04:59.120 --> 0:05:01.360 no matter what comes in that door today, I know 0:05:01.440 --> 0:05:02.880 that I'm going to be able to handle. 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:04.200 It, especially as a flight nurse. 0:05:04.200 --> 0:05:07.080 No matter what page we get that day, I know 0:05:07.160 --> 0:05:09.520 that when I get up in that helicopter, I'm going 0:05:09.560 --> 0:05:10.360 to be able to do this. 0:05:10.920 --> 0:05:13.560 If you can hear a sense of conviction in Asia's 0:05:13.640 --> 0:05:16.960 voice when she talks about nursing, there's a reason for 0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:21.000 that because nursing has always been Asia's goal. 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:24.479 Yeah, this is one hundred percent plan A for me. 0:05:24.640 --> 0:05:27.479 I always wanted to be a nurse. I went to 0:05:27.520 --> 0:05:29.800 a high school that was called a vocational high school, 0:05:29.839 --> 0:05:32.719 so they let you study some type of vocation, and 0:05:32.800 --> 0:05:36.000 my vocation was practical nursing, which you got to graduate 0:05:36.040 --> 0:05:37.080 with your LPN. 0:05:36.800 --> 0:05:39.920 From high school. So I did that program and I 0:05:40.120 --> 0:05:41.839 was like, yeah, this is it, and then. 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:45.560 From there I went straight to college and got my 0:05:45.720 --> 0:05:46.359 four year. 0:05:46.200 --> 0:05:49.880 Degree right away and it the rest's history. 0:05:49.920 --> 0:05:52.839 I one hundred percent once I started in it, just 0:05:52.880 --> 0:05:54.720 even that first day, I was like, this is what 0:05:54.760 --> 0:05:55.200 I want to do. 0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:56.400 This is definitely my calling. 0:05:59.120 --> 0:06:02.039 So no, this isn't one of those stories about a 0:06:02.040 --> 0:06:05.200 wayward soul trying out a bunch of different jobs before 0:06:05.240 --> 0:06:09.400 finding the one that suited them. This is the story 0:06:09.440 --> 0:06:12.919 of a woman who knew deep down exactly what she 0:06:13.040 --> 0:06:16.240 wanted to do in this life and then committed herself 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:20.640 holy to turning that dream into a reality. So when 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:23.559 Asia shows up to work, she's not hoping to pass 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:27.599 the time playing on her phone. She's there because she 0:06:27.680 --> 0:06:30.320 has a job to do, her dream job. 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:32.520 We have this thing in nursing, which is kind of 0:06:32.520 --> 0:06:33.400 I think all nursing. 0:06:33.400 --> 0:06:33.920 It's called a. 0:06:33.839 --> 0:06:36.920 Superstition where you don't say it's quiet in here or 0:06:37.000 --> 0:06:40.159 on board, because when you say those things, things commit 0:06:40.400 --> 0:06:42.360 and I'm the one that's gonna walk in like, guys, 0:06:42.520 --> 0:06:46.880 it's so quiet in here, because I'm like, we're doing this, 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:49.120 We're gonna turn this up in here today. 0:06:49.160 --> 0:06:51.200 And people are like, Asia, why did you say that? 0:06:51.320 --> 0:06:54.280 I'm like, because we're just sitting here bored, like we 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:56.800 need things to do. And so I am one hundred 0:06:56.839 --> 0:06:57.680 percent the person. 0:06:57.520 --> 0:07:00.919 Like I hope we get a flight today. 0:07:01.600 --> 0:07:05.320 When we come back from the break. Asia's pager goes off. 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:17.280 A strong work ethic, takes pride in a job well done. 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:21.720 This is the kind of person you need. Express Employment 0:07:21.760 --> 0:07:25.040 Professionals can help because in good times or bad, we 0:07:25.200 --> 0:07:28.000 understand how critical it is to manage your business for 0:07:28.040 --> 0:07:30.480 today with the right workforce. 0:07:31.240 --> 0:07:34.200 We offer hiring solutions to fit changing demands. 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:36.320 Express knows Jobs. 0:07:36.440 --> 0:07:40.040 Get to know Express go to expresspros dot com to 0:07:40.080 --> 0:07:41.360 find a location near you. 0:07:44.720 --> 0:07:47.280 We're back with Asia B, who shows up at her 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:51.080 dream job as a critical care transport nurse, not knowing 0:07:51.160 --> 0:07:54.360 exactly what that day is going to look like. One 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:57.080 minute she might be working in the hospital and the 0:07:57.160 --> 0:07:59.440 next she's speeding down I ninety five in the back 0:07:59.480 --> 0:08:02.480 of an ambul or putting a stint in a patient 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:05.680 while soaring over Washington, d C. And a medical helicopter. 0:08:06.520 --> 0:08:10.320 And for Asia, that uncertainty, that big question mark at 0:08:10.320 --> 0:08:13.080 the beginning of each day is one of the best 0:08:13.120 --> 0:08:17.640 parts of the job. But it's a job not without risks. 0:08:17.880 --> 0:08:18.960 Do you have a son, right? 0:08:20.000 --> 0:08:22.239 I do. He's a five year old and my son's 0:08:22.320 --> 0:08:23.000 name is Tate. 0:08:24.400 --> 0:08:27.200 Does your son worry about you going up in the helicopter? 0:08:29.040 --> 0:08:31.800 He's My son is five, so I don't know if 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:34.880 he actually has grasped the idea that I am like 0:08:35.000 --> 0:08:37.880 that it's so dangerous in his mind. You know, when 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:40.280 you're that young, Oh the beauty of innocence. You just 0:08:40.280 --> 0:08:44.480 don't understand. This is dangerous. Mommy's job is dangerous. 0:08:46.679 --> 0:08:51.840 Medical flights often occur in poor conditions and challenging locations, 0:08:52.320 --> 0:08:55.200 and while the industry has taken measures to increase the 0:08:55.240 --> 0:09:01.040 safety of their work, risks still abound. In fact, just 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:05.080 days before I interviewed Asia, a medical helicopter went down 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:10.560 in Nevada, killing everyone aboard. And then when I was 0:09:10.720 --> 0:09:15.040 editing this piece, a few weeks later, another medical helicopter 0:09:15.160 --> 0:09:20.040 went down in Alabama. Asia is not ambivalent to the 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:23.520 risk of her job. She knows that every time you 0:09:23.600 --> 0:09:29.000 go up there is that chance. But she also knows 0:09:29.040 --> 0:09:31.880 that it's part of the job, a job that she 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:33.400 feels destined to do. 0:09:34.200 --> 0:09:37.080 I think that one of the things for nurses, most nurses, 0:09:37.200 --> 0:09:40.840 nurses who care, are they're just so like selfless, right 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:43.320 because the reality is we're here to help people, and 0:09:43.360 --> 0:09:46.280 so in our mind that's always our like, that's always 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:48.400 at the forefront, So we don't really you can't really 0:09:48.400 --> 0:09:50.040 think of anything else in those moments. 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:55.360 As a mom herself, Asia knows the stakes. She knows 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:59.880 that oftentimes she's seeing families in their absolute worst moments, 0:10:00.760 --> 0:10:05.480 seeing mothers and fathers in the midst of a living nightmare. 0:10:05.720 --> 0:10:08.680 The thing about and they're saying that kind of fascinates me, 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:11.280 I think is that you are literally taking care. 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:12.880 Of someone at their most vulnerable time. 0:10:13.520 --> 0:10:16.920 You have the power to kind of be the difference 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:20.320 between a good experience how they deal with this like 0:10:20.360 --> 0:10:23.200 most stressful time in their life, or adding more stress 0:10:23.240 --> 0:10:25.719 and making it terrible for them, right, and especially I 0:10:25.760 --> 0:10:31.080 think being a pediatric nurse, this is your most prized possession, 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:34.320 right and now you are literally as a mom, feeling 0:10:34.440 --> 0:10:37.320 so helpless in this situation and you have no idea 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:39.360 what to do, and I hear I come, and I'm like, 0:10:39.520 --> 0:10:41.400 I know more than you about your kid. Right, No 0:10:41.400 --> 0:10:44.000 one likes to hear that, But I think in those 0:10:44.040 --> 0:10:46.960 moments like empowering parents and being able to be there 0:10:46.960 --> 0:10:50.599 for them in their toughest time is probably like the best. 0:10:50.760 --> 0:10:54.000 If my patient leaves and doesn't feel like I've helped 0:10:54.040 --> 0:10:56.959 them or held their hand through this, what was the point? 0:10:57.040 --> 0:10:58.760 Then there's just really no point. 0:11:05.240 --> 0:11:09.599 So here's the thing. Well, this episode is about Asia, 0:11:09.720 --> 0:11:14.160 It's also about nurses everywhere. It's about those millions of 0:11:14.200 --> 0:11:16.800 men and women who put on their nurses scrupts each 0:11:16.920 --> 0:11:20.080 day and do their jobs, no matter how difficult or 0:11:20.160 --> 0:11:24.480 exhausting or downright dangerous it might be. At the height 0:11:24.520 --> 0:11:28.320 of the pandemic, entire cities came to a standstill as 0:11:28.360 --> 0:11:32.200 people banked pots and pans and screamed in praise of 0:11:32.320 --> 0:11:36.440 nurses and doctors and other frontline workers. Maybe you were 0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:39.319 one of those people who, at seven o'clock every night 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:42.679 shouted out your window or stomped up and down on 0:11:42.720 --> 0:11:47.080 your fire escape in praise of our frontline workers, in 0:11:47.200 --> 0:11:51.440 praise of our heroes. And as things returned to a 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:55.760 sense of normalcy. I'm wondering if we can't find some 0:11:55.960 --> 0:12:01.080 way to continue thinking those people, people like Asia, who 0:12:01.080 --> 0:12:09.960 we turned to in our times of need. If you'd 0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:12.320 like to thank Asia, you can check her out on 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:18.480 our website Motheringdemama dot com. For on the job, I'm 0:12:18.520 --> 0:12:19.320 Avery Thompson.