“911- What is your emergency?”

This past Friday I had the privilege of flying with an air medical team in a helicopter. I visited our friends in Morehead, KY a month or two ago and found out that they live next to a helicopter base. We went across the road to the base and met one of the pilots. He told me about their ride-along program that they offer to medical students at the hospital next door. It gives the students an opportunity to see if they would like to do emergency care through flying as a flight nurse or paramedic. Since I was a pilot and not a med student I still could go with them to see what the flying aspect of the team was like. So I emailed the people and we arranged a date that I could come and ride with them for a whole day.

            I drove from Louisville to Morehead (~2 hours) on Thursday night and spent the night with our friends, the Mansfields (check out Aaron Mansfield's blog- Eclogues), and then in the morning around 8am I went over to the base. We started right away and were up in the air within 15 minutes of me getting there. In the morning they did a drill at a high school about 10 minutes (flight) away. At the school they staged an accident and students played the roles of people injured in the cars. They had actually collided the cars and put dummies in there and a few students who had fake blood and injuries. The EMS, fire department, coroner, the air medical team (PHI), and police were all involved and they responded to the emergency as if it were a real one. We (in the helicopter) were waiting at the nearby airport for them to call us and when they did we lifted up and within a couple minutes we were sitting in the parking lot of the high school. They put the “injured” student on the stretcher and then loaded them in the helicopter. Officially, if it were a real accident they would lift off right away and go to the hospital, but this time we just stayed on the ground and then unloaded the patient.

PHI 1 Morehead, KY

            After the first drill we (PHI air medical team) went and got gas just in case if there was a real emergency that we would be prepared and then came back and did another drill pretty much the same way as the first one. It was really neat to see how they would respond in an emergency and what they do. It was also awesome to be in a helicopter for the first time! It’s neat how you go up straight and then you’re in the air rather than having to have a runway.

The difference between helicopters and planes is that

1. The ride is bumpier (the blades hit the air a certain way which causes the aircraft to shake),

2. A helicopter requires less room to take off and so is beneficial because they can land anywhere but can’t go as far on a tank of fuel, and

3. Planes are better for long distances but have limited landing areas.

After doing the drills we returned to base in Morehead and then the team did paperwork and/or took naps. The medical personnel on the team work 24hour shifts while the pilot works 12. On that shift if they get a call they go to it but the rest of the time they are just waiting, doing paperwork, or taking a short nap since their shift is so long and they need to be awake during the night.

            It was such a great experience to see how a helicopter works and how the air medical team works. Depending on where I eventually go in my flying career I may add a rotor wing (helicopter) certificate to what I have.

 Fly (in a plane or helicopter or anything) with Christ,

Helen

Pressing On

Veterans day: Thank you to all the veterans out there! Especially the pilots! We couldn't have come this far without you all and we greatly appreciate it. May God continue to bless your lives as he has already done so far.

Take a look at this link- it's about a WWII African American Pilot who stood up against segregation. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-15615290

In other news, Here's a verse that sticks in my mind-

Philippians 3:14  

^"14I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus."

 As I suffered through a mini marathon this morning I was reminded of when Paul talks about running to win the prize. Even if you are not in first place, you can still win the prize- the prize of Christ! That he came to earth to save us from our sins and died on the cross bearing our punishment and suffering. So no matter how much you're suffering, we have Christ to thank for saving us from eternal suffering!

Flying: Pleasant and Pressing Parts

On Wednesday I flew for the first time with a passenger who was not a pilot! I took my dad out for a flight to Frankfort, Georgetown, Madison IN, and then back to Clarksville and Bowman field. This course has become somewhat regular for me so it was nice to fly into places that I knew especially with a passenger. My dad loved it though and was completely calm/ didn’t worry about a thing which was helpful. I even let him taxi a bit. On our way from Georgetown to Madison, I was communicating with Louisville Approach for flight following (where they follow you and tell you if there is any traffic in your area and just keep tabs on you till you get near you destination). As I got farther away from Louisville towards Madison, IN they were having trouble hearing me for some reason. I fiddled with the volume and some of the communication buttons to try and make it better but at that point I was close enough to Madison they terminated the radar service and I just went on my way. However, then the communication between my dad and I in the airplane cut out and we could not hear each other. I also couldn’t hear myself through my head phones. I continued to broadcast my position and landed at Madison airport.

We stopped and I asked the people at the desk there about the radios. Fortunately, they could hear me fine. I then called my instructor to see what I should do and he advised me that sometimes the Unicom frequency switch gets turned off or something like that. We got back in the plane and fixed the problem and were off again. After taking off I did a quick radio check and all systems were go! We cruised on over to Clarksville (just 26 miles south ~15 min), got fuel, and then hopped over to Bowman. It was quite an experience to have a passenger and have radio trouble (which I never had had before). But I just trusted that we could get to the airport safely and figure out the problem from there. In a way it was good to have something go wrong so that I could learn what to do and what not to do. God tests our faith this way- in tough situations we need to immediately turn to Him and not get bogged down by failure or frustration but to work things out and trust God to keep us safe and to help us through things by giving us clear minds to work through the task at hand.

Fly with Christ,

Helen