Through the Tail Rotor

Have you ever looked skyward and seen a helicopter taking off, wondering what, or who, they were working on? Have you ever said a silent prayer as an ambulance passes you, lights flashing and sirens blaring, knowing that it can't be good? Have you ever seen crosses on the side of the road and crossed yourself, sending up a short prayer for not only the lost soul, but for those who were there that day?

In my decade-plus-long career, I have seen both the good and the bad of the human body. I have had those calls where my partner and I have stood triumphant in the face of death, allowing someone's parent, sibling, child, friend to live another day; where we are exhausted with the effort of battling certain doom. I have also had those calls - those horrific hours where it was known that we would fail, no matter how valiant our efforts. We have ended those calls covered in someone else's blood and our own sweat, heads hung low and feet dragging as we returned, tails tucked, to our base.

This is a collection of those calls - both good and bad - sharing my experience on the roller coaster of emergency medicine. I hope that you are ready to feel what I have felt; to see what I have seen. I hope you can handle the thick iron scent of blood on your boots, feel the trembling in your fingers as you try to pass a tiny tube into an infant's trachea, and witness the crushed-spirit look of someone who has endured untold abuse. I hope you are ready and able to face sleepless nights as you fight Death himself; and that you can withstand missed meals and passed bathroom break opportunities.