'Copters and cutters and spreaders, oh my!

A couple of weeks ago my EMT class did our extrication/helicopter lab day. We started our morning by landing the back-up helicopter (AKA the ghetto bird) of my future employer, AirLife. This was after the lecture on "the tail rotor will slaughter you" and "powerlines will slaughter us" safety type stuff.

It's not the roomiest office, but it has killer views.

Here's a patient's POV. You can see why tall people, obese folks, Hare traction splints, and anything that needs to be done on the patient's left side can be a problem.


After helicopter-landing, it was time for car-cutting. I felt really silly, like a little girl playing dress-up, except with bunker gear and heavy hydraulic tools.

Now that my friend is stress relief.

Die post, die.

Classic pin-up, eh?


Sometimes I wish I could be a fire medic. It would be a nice variety... one call you're taking a chest-painer to the hospital, the next you're battling a structure fire, the next you're rescuing someone trapped in an elevator. However with my gender, smaller stature, knee issues, and respiratory problems (I apparently grew out of asthma) it would be a long shot. Besides, I appreciate the academic rigor and endless opportunities that nursing presents.