Flying high…

Yesterday, our front door opened and Sam walked into the house. I asked him what he was doing here.

“I was in Albany.” I immediately knew he tested to become a certified fight nurse. This test only has a 50% pass rate the first time you take the test.

Since Sam finished his coursework online and in-person classes, he has been studying.

When I say studying, I mean serious studying in all of his free time. Marty and I have no idea where that came from, not us.

When Sam came here in October for the EMS conference he and Marty went to, he brought his flash cards.

It was thick stack of flash cards that he made and laminated. This is how he studies. Marty quizzed him in their spare time.

I am so glad to report he passed his test! Sam will take the certified flight paramedic test in the next week or so.

He wants to take it while everything is fresh in his mind however, he still will be studying until then.

I don’t write about my kids much but when something like this happens, I need to share the news.

A psychic friend told me when the kids were young that Sam will accomplish anything he puts his mind to. My friend was right.

Sam isn’t the type to blow his own horn, like everything in his life he is a very private person.

There are only 5,000 certified flight nurses in the country. Now there are 5001. I think that is a huge accomplishment for a 23-year-old.

To be hired as a certified flight nurse is easier said than done and is no small feat. It is also extremely competitive.

There are many steps to even be considered.

Applications are studied and scrutinized. If you are chosen there is more testing for the agency you are applying to.

Next, you must go before a panel of experienced emergency medicine experts and answer a a battery of questions.

They give the applicant several medical scenarios for them to explain everything that must be done.

Emergency flight work is a serious, adrenaline-pumping, complicated job that takes a certain kind of person.

If you are hired, there is more learning and training that can take months before you are part of a flight crew.

When the fight crew goes on a mission they must get the patient stabilized before take off.

Once the plane or helicopter takes off, that is the flight crew’s main focus: safety.

As a mom, it makes me a nervous wreck but this is something Sam has been striving for: for years.

For now, he will remain a nurse in the very busy emergency department at UVM where traumas come through the door constantly.

There are many learning opportunities at UVM. Sam wants to get as much experience and knowledge while he continues his education.

Down the road, when the time is right he will then go through the grueling process of being hired by an agency.

Sam left this morning to go back to Burlington. We may not see him until Christmas so I made sure I got a lot of hugs in. ☺️