Houston, again

Another run to Houston with a really sick patient.  This one had a balloon pump.   Same kind of team--two nurses and a medic, and I was brought in to be the balloon pump nurse. 

In my three trips to Houston so far, I've come to the conclusion that it's never going to be good when we go to Houston.

Without going into details (mostly because I'm just too exhausted!) there were all kinds of monkey wrenches thrown into this particular run...malfunctioning equipment, unstable patient, transportation problems in Houston (to the point where we had to call 911 to get to the hospital) and then needing to shock the patient in the rescue truck en route to the hospital in Houston.  Whew!

The good news is she was stable when we turned her over in Houston, and that is what it's all about.

What this ride was also about was teamwork.  I had never really met this nurse before, but had worked with the medic so we weren't an established "team" that was used to working together and knew each other's strengths.  So on the ride down to Waco we talked everything out and as a team decided on responsibilities and tasks.  As our perfect little plan broke down piece by piece we continually reassessed things and formed a new plan.  We all did what we did best, and although it wasn't by any means the smoothest transport ever we all came out of it with a true sense of respect for each other.

We all had a "debriefing" at the office the next afternoon with the Chief Flight Nurse, Medical Director and Assistant Chief Flight Nurse, in which we discussed the flight, the problems and things that were done well.  It was a very positive meeting, and at no time did any of us feel the need to defend ourselves from the day after armchair quarterback.  The bosses made it known that they were very proud of our responses to the obstacles we had.  I feel good knowing that our organization is that supportive of the staff.  That is SO huge, in my opinion: supporting your staff when they are making life and death decisions in the most unusual of circumstances. 

I love my new job.