The Good Life - January/February 2014

hospital and also maintains a hanger in North Fargo.
We were joined later in the conversation by several of
the other members of Meyer’s crew.
GL: What made you want to be a flight nurse?
Jenny Amundson, Flight Nurse, 2 years: I loved ER
Nursing and ICU Nursing and this job was a way to
blend both types of nursing into one.
Each had a different reason for being there, including
Aaron Reimer, who is one of the newer members of
the crew and is using the job as an excellent source of
training before going to medical school.
GL: What’s the most challenging part of your job?
Jennifer Berntson, Nurse, 6 years: I think it’s the
logistics of it- doing what we’re trained to do in many
different types of environments. One call, you might
be (performing techniques) in the aircraft. The next
call, you might be in someone’s living room. It’s
challenging, especially from a nursing standpoint.
When you’re a regular nurse, your patients come to
you.
GL: Can you share with us one of your most
memorable response calls?
Rodney Wirth, with the team since 1990: Many years
ago, my partner and I were up in northern Minnesota.
We were picking up this guy who was having difficulty
breathing and we gave him some medication to sedate
him. As we were giving it to him I told him ‘Ok you’re
gonna go to sleep now. Goodnight!’. He ended up
in the ICU for a considerable length of time. When
he woke up, I went down to visit him. I walked in
the door and he said, ‘I remember you! You’re the
guy who said goodnight and that’s the last thing I
remember for six weeks!’
While there are, undoubtedly, lots of laughs and
stories that come along with being a member of
Sanford’s AirMed team, when the call comes in, it’s
all business. It’s the business of saving lives and being
local heroes to all of the patients that the AirMed
crew flies off to help.
We asked the members of the Sanford AirMed team
what ‘the good life,’ meant to them. Tim Meyer
spoke for all of them, and his answer was short, but
powerful.
“Meaningful Work.”
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