Posted on 06/28/2007 10:27:38 PM PDT by 60Gunner
My dad flew in the Navy in attack jets. He flew multiple tours over Vietnam, was shot down once (made it out okay) and crashed off the carrier once (made it out that time, too). He retired with a chestful of medals, many of which he won multiple times. He was a scrappy, 5'8" wiry terrier of a guy, a Golden Gloves bantamweight boxer in his youth. He left home when he was 16 and lied about his age to get into the Navy. He became a nurse after retiring from the Navy, specializing in Geriatrics throughout his career. He was a warrior and he was a minister of mercy. I knew almost nothing about his heroics, trials, ordeals, defeats and triumphs until after his death from cancer in 2001, when I "inherited" his service records and papers.
He is more of a hero now to me than he was in life. And he was my number one hero in life.
Dad always missed flying. He spoke often of his love for it: the freedom, the noise, the speed, the smell of jet exhaust, the thrill of the catapult shot, the sense of duty and honor he carried with him to the grave. Even after the Navy forced him out of the cockpit, he still loved flight.
I caught the bug myself. I wanted to be a Naval Aviator... but not enough to work hard in school. The closest I got to slipping the surly bonds of earth was when I slipped the surly bonds of a C-130 as I, along with 60-odd other paratroopers, were unceremoniously shat out of the "Herky Bird's" tail end. Bird droppings, indeed.
I often flew with a friend in his private plane. The moment we broke ground, he'd tap me on the knee and say, "You got 'er." I flew the small single engine plane around the Puget Sound, banking along the clouds, navigating by way of familiar landmarks and the "concrete compass" (the Interstate highway) below us. As the sun slid toward the horizon and the shadows grew long, we would wing our way home. When we slid into the final leg, my friend would say, "I got 'er" and land us safely.
I never got a chance to get my own pilot's license. I still want to, but it isn't a priority right now, and I haven't got the time.
But when I became a nurse, the thought crossed my mind: Why not become a flight nurse? I shelved the idea, of course.
But I have a friend who, it turns out, trains flight nurses for the local life flight organization. We ended up talking about flight nursing and I mentioned my dream of flight, but ended by saying that I doubted if I could ever be one at this stage in my life.
My friend laughed, "Why the hell NOT!?"
"I'm forty-two!" I replied rather defensively. "I have a wife and kids. I don't have time to go for that now."
"Crap. Nonsense," my friend retorted. How old do you think the average Life Flight nurse is?"
"I dunno," I said, preparing myself for an answer that would make me look like a fool.
"Late thirties to mid-fifties- even older, if you are in good shape."
"Really?" I asked, not daring to hope.
"Really. Go for it!" He said.
Well, I talked to my wife about it tonight. She snorted, "Why not!? You always wanted to fly, didn't you?" I guess that means she has given me her blessing.
I wonder if I'll get my own helmet? Gee, that'd be cool!
ER Nursing stories follow-that-dream ping!!!
Get another designation other than “nurse”. Your buddies will never let you live it now.
Go for it.
Great piece, go for it and good luck!
so if some people can start nursing at that age, why shouldn't you go for flight nursing.....good luck..
For heaven’s sake, go for it.
So take the chance, what do you have to lose?
Go for it, and Godspeed! :-)
Except for the time when they were stuck in India for five days until the company could scrape up the $10K bribe needed before they were allowed to depart.
Get up and get out there and on your way. It’s never too late.
I remember my dad taking me out to the airport when I was, maybe 4 or 5. He would point out Taylorcrafts, Pipers, maybe even a Beechcraft Bonanza on a small town dirt runway. I shared my dad’s love for aviation and vowed someday I would learn to fly.
My friends had told me I would never get a Pilot’s License. I wouldn’t be able to pass the required physical. I had one good eye (the other is blind) with glasses. I am hard of hearing and required hearing aids to even compete with “normal people”!
It was when I was 33 and financially able when I dared to try. I petitioned the FAA for permission to take flight lessons. Got it and flew until I soloed (1968). I bought a Cessna 150 and had a blast! I never had an accident and enjoyed many hours of flight between Illinois and Nebraska. Also in Texas and around.
Got involved in building aircraft. Even rebuilt the engine in my 150. Helped a friend build a VariEze and flew in it! Being a member in the local EAA (Experimental Aircraft Association) helped maintain an interest in all facets of aviation and met many other pilots.
During all that time I married and had kids. I worked as an engineer until retirement.
Now I have 8 grandkids and at the age of 71, I reckon I have time to take some of them out to the airport and point out “There’s a Piper. Oh, look at the Bonanza!”
I wouldn’t mind being an air transport pilot for an airline but I couldn’t pass the physical but I had a blast with my little airplane.
Gunner, what’s holding you up?
Go for it! You won’t get any younger!
GO for it!!!
Make it and I will chip in a Fiver for your very own helmet:-)
Regards and Good Luck
alfa6 ;>}
After 25 years in IT, at age 50 I returned to school for an AAS in Respiratory Therapy. Graduated last month (age 52) Magnum cum Laude, passed the national boards this month.
Yep, it can be done.
Thanks for adding me to your list. I’m 50 years old and never graduated from college, but this year I did what I had been thinking about doing for several years - I’m going back to school & working on a degree in nursing. I love it!
I wish I had done it when I first started thinking about it - I would be a nurse already - but it’s never too late! I say go for it - life’s too short to not live it to the fullest every chance you get.
Thanks. You are a good writer.
Go for it
You already know how to handle emergency situations...now you just will do it in the AIR, on a noisey helicopter/plane....you will continue to save lives and make a difference!
GOOD LUCK...keep us posted! :)
Something like...................Gunner!
Flight nurses saved my life in 1995. I never "met" them, as I was out cold and hurt badly. It was their work that kept me alive.
You are brave to start this new adventure. I pray for your success.
Awesome, I’ll be thrilled to read of your adventures continuing in the air!
(And kudos to your wife as well for supporting your dream.)
If you can imagine it you can create it. If you can dream it, you can become it.- Ward, William Arthur
Within our dreams and aspirations we find our opportunities. - Ebaugh, Sue
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.- Roosevelt, Eleanor
You see things; and you say "Why?" But I dream things that never were; and I say "Why not?" - George Bernard Shaw
It’s nice to see your Dad’s heroic spirit is alive and well in his son. We need more men like you. Good luck, 60Gunner!
We transport via air ambulance almost once a week. My station is far enough out of the hospital district that bad traffic and the need for a level 1 trauma center often demand it.
The flight nurses often tell us its interesting to finally see the actual cause of the trauma instead of just hearing a discription of what happens.
It was embarrassing. It was infuriating. I got sent home early a lot for knocking the teeth out of my classmates' mouths and for telling my male teachers that my dad was three times the man that they were. I told the female teachers that they were just jealous that my dad looked better in white than they did. You see how it goes...
Besides, the first nurses were men, and nursing was strictly a male profession until that man-hating, socialist, spiteful old feminist beeyotch-infested American Nurses Association got a toehold. Nursing was ruined after that.
Mr G climbed Grand Teton on his 54th birthday with his 61 year old brother and our 28 year old son. This year, at age 58, he did a scientific exploration (with his now 65 year old brother leading it) in a little used entrance to Mammoth cave. It was a very difficult 14 hour trek. They will probably go back in the fall.
I am beginning my own business at age 55. You are never too old to do what you love.
Good job holding your ground. “Three times the man they were” and “Looked better in white than they did” are some classic lines. :)
Interesting, I never knew that nursing was a primarily male profession. The things you learn here.
Thanks, 60. Very inspiring.
You ARE an ER Nurse already, but you want to be a Flight nurse? Cool!!
You have your wife's blessing, so I hope you realize your dreams.
sw
"Ladies of the Lamp," indeed. Hmph.
Was it because of Florence Nightingale that this whole women nurses trend began?
Yep. Good old man-hating Flo. She said, “There is no place in nursing for men.” Then she set about spreading her feminist gospel. Of course, it caught on in America in the early 20th century, about the time the Suffrage movement was gaining momentum. Timing is everything, eh?
You can thank the American Nurses Association for forcing men out of nursing in America- and for the nursing shortage we face today.
Follow the dream!
By the way, I just realized for the first time that you are in WA, too. For all I know, I’ve been in your hospital!
Whoa
I thought the air time you picked up in a M973 / BV206 already had you air qualed.
Then again, the Bell 222 is a pretty sweet bird (used in UT) or the EC 135 is real swank....
Looking forward to some new “There I was” stories - just the thing for a Frday night.
Hmm, didn’t know that about her. What do you think about those rumors about her being a lesbian?
On the same note, I hope never to meet you in my place of business.
Well, it’s going to take awhile to get me there. I have to get some ICU experience first. I can do that by working per diem in the Icu while staying in the ER. It’ll take a couple of years before I can submit an application that will be taken seriously. But at least I know where to start.
I don’t know about Nightingale’s being a lesbian. I do know that she was a vehement man-hater. Treated men like cockroaches.
B/3/325, and I was a 60 gunner. ;)
From the window here in my Alaskan office, I can see a mountain named after a young paramedic I trained, killed in a helicopter medivac accident some years ago. I think back over the 30 years I've been involved in EMS here and there are just too many good friends and colleagues lost in similar circumstances. National statistics show that over half of the LOD deaths among EMS personnel occur during air operations.
If you do this please choose your employer well. Find an outfit that has a clean safety record.
If anyone could take this on, you can! Go for it!
Go for it.
Best wishes.
>>>How do you balance a flight safety/weather decision on top of a rapidly deteriorating patient?<<<
From what I’ve observed at my local hospital, it’s pilot’s discretion - if weather conditions are bad, they stay on the ground - I can’t see that being different anywhere else.
I decided that flying was not for me because after all who the heck wants to study barometric pressures, and all that other dry junk?
Well now, many years later, I am considered to be somewhat proficient in my knowledge of pressures and altitude changes as well as certain other matters.
Respiratory Therapy demands things that one might not ordinarily realize at first.
I’ll be talking to some familiar folks soon about my lifelong ambition to pilot aircraft. After all...How hard can it be?
Go for it...and by the way...I believe that I am a bit older than you are.
Don't wonder, insist on it.
Your better half has given you the green light. Go for it!
In the worst case, if you don't like it, or if it does not work out, you can go back to the ER and tell them (and us) some mighty fine stories of what happened.
The nursing care has always been good...the physician's care has been good sometimes.
Go for it....
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