REUNION ISSUE A Publication of The Frances Payne Bolton School ...

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knowledge needed to help progress
efforts toward developing the extension
of FPB’s Flight Nursing program at
Aichi. With Japan being a mountainous
island, delivering health care to critically
ill patients in rural areas is difficult.
Acute care nurse practitioners arriving
via helicopter can make the difference
between life and death for residents in the
interior regions of the country. Therefore,
during her stay, Mrs. Suzuki was also
taken by Dean Wykle, Mr. Manacci,
and Case Western Reserve University
President Barbara Snyder, to visit Parker
Hannifin Corporation, the local maker
of the Sikorsky helicopters used by many
hospitals in their air medical transport
programs. There, Mrs. Satomi met
President and CEO of the corporation,
Donald Washkewicz.
(From left) President and CEO of Parker Hannifin
Donald Washkewicz, CWRU President
Barbara Snyder, Satomi Suzuki, Chris Manacci,
and Dean May Wykle
The National Flight Nurse Academy
is supported by FPB as part of the
Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Flight
Nursing program. Understanding the
program’s importance, FPB Visiting
Committee members Allen Ford and
Bill Bolton joined the effort several years
ago to promote it and seek additional
necessary funding. Mr. Bolton, the
grandson of former Congresswoman and
FPB benefactor Frances Payne Bolton,
expressed, “Nurses are the ideal cultural
ambassadors…not just in terms of health
care, but also in bridging the gap between
societies and increasing the strength of
human relationships.”
Mr. Bolton met several nurses from Aichi
Medical University during their weeklong
participation in FPB’s 7th Annual
Flight Nursing Summer Camp, held
August 10 – 14, 2009. An important
part of FPB’s Flight Nursing program,
the camp provides an opportunity for
students within the graduate program
to seek specialized training in caring for
critically ill and injured patients in an
unstructured environment. On August
14th, the final day of this year’s camp, 75
people volunteered to simulate serious
injuries from an earthquake in a disaster
drill at CWRU’s Squire Valleevue Farm.
The ‘wounded’ were treated for massive
blood loss, internal injuries, fractures, as
well as various other complex medical
emergencies. Since most of the classroom
preparation provides neither the realism
nor the urgency of such a catastrophic
situation, CWRU’s farm property was
transformed to replicate an earthquake
44 The Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing Case Western Reserve University
FPB Executive Associate Dean for Academic Programs Patricia Underwood, Chris Manacci,
and Bill Bolton with visiting Japanese nurses
disaster area. ‘Victims’ were placed
throughout the farm, screaming and
simulating agony from their injuries.
While at a special dinner at Mr. Manacci’s
home after the camp, Mr. Bolton was
inspired by the level of commitment
and camaraderie that the American and
Japanese nurses shared. “I’m a big fan of
nurses in general, and even more so of this
new international collaboration,” he said.
“I have no doubt that my grandmother
would be very proud.”
With FPB’s relationship with Aichi
Medical University — the National
Flight Nurse Academy’s first international
affiliate — now firmly in place, the FPB
model will continue to be disseminated
around the world. “Being a nurse is the
greatest privilege that anybody can have,
and our new Japanese colleagues clearly
understand this,” Mr. Manacci said.
“Critically ill patients may not even know
your name but rely on you for help. And
it’s not just help in getting a task done,
but help to survive. I don’t think it gets
any more powerful than that.”