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Flight Nurse Laura Poore transports a
patient from the landing pad into the emergency room
at Jackson-Madison County General Hospital.
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Laura Poore discovered her calling in life at an early
age. The daughter of James and Nancy Knolton of McKenzie,
she barely remembers her sister who died at the tender age
of 15 when Laura was just five years old, a victim of
leukemia, but she remembers vividly the first aid class
that taught her some lives could be saved.
"When I was in eighth grade Richard Arnold had first aid
classes at the hospital," says Laura of the class she and
some of her classmates enrolled in. "I really enjoyed it,
and I thought, 'You know? I think I'd like to be a nurse.'
Even at that young age I knew what I wanted to do."
Laura's commitment was cemented over the years as she
diligently retested every two years to keep her CPR
certification current. When she graduated from high
school, she immediately enrolled in the University of
Tennessee's School of Nursing, graduating in 1990 at the
age of 22.
Energetic, adrenalin-driven Laura sought the excitement of
employment in Memphis' Methodist Central emergency room
and neurotrauma center after graduation, before
practicality brought her back to her rural roots. She
married Willie Poore, the brother of her friend Cecil (who
had introduced the two in 1988) in September 1991.
Laura settled into relative complacency as a nurse for
Tri-County Home Health Center, a position she enjoyed
until 1999. From her new position with Methodist Home
Health Care, she transferred to the emergency room and
found her old yearning for the excitement of emergency
medicine was as strong as ever.
An earlier attempt at furthering her interests in
emergency treatment had been thwarted when she was forced
to choose between EMT (emergency medical technician)
classes in 1992 or to enjoy a scheduled vacation with
Willie that would exceed the one-day absence limitation
for the course by a single day.
She and Willie traveled to California and Las Vegas for
the 13-day vacation. "When we got back I realized
everything works out for a reason," says Laura, who
arrived home from the trip to realize she and Willie would
soon be parents. The couple in time had two daughters,
Kelsie, now age nine, and Kaleigh, age seven.
A second, successful enrollment in EMT classes at Jackson
State University in 2001 provided more than Laura had
bargained for when a fellow student brought to class a
brochure that for Laura was the answer to making her
dreams come true. The literature boasted of the advantages
of Air Evac Lifeteam services, an air ambulance service
that teams pilots, registered nurses and paramedics to
deliver emergency medical treatment and transportation
services to rural communities. With a base as close as
Jackson, it was an unbeatable opportunity for country
girl/wife/mom/nurse Laura Poore.
"It was just like riding a bicycle," says Laura concerning
the full wakening of her dream, "It's something I always
wanted to do, be a flight nurse. I always said, 'I'm going
to fly one of these days, girls, it may take me awhile but
I'm going to fly!'"
Laura met many of the requirements for the position, which
included three years emergency room or intensive care
experience, Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Pediatric
Advanced Life Support, and Pre-hospital Trauma Life
Support or Basic Trauma Life Support. With the basics
under her belt, she applied for and was selected to attend
the Air Evac Lifeteam's intensive five-day Aeromedical
Academy held in West Plains, Missouri, which consisted of
simulated day and night flights, lab training and lecture
courses.
"They pay for all your food and lodging; all you have to
do is drive there," explains Laura who was obviously
satisfied with the quality of the concentrated training.
Upon completion of the course, she became an eligible
candidate for a position with the Air Evac Lifeteam.
Laura and members of Nashville crew:
Jim Reeves and Ken Miracle
Laura joined the Air Evac Lifeteam in October last year,
starting out part-time at the Jackson base then splitting
her time between the Jackson and Nashville bases to
achieve fulltime status. By June, she was working fulltime
at the Jackson unit. She explains nurses and paramedics
work 24 hour shifts - 24 hours on and 24 hours off - for a
total of 10 shifts per month, in order to qualify as a
fulltime employee. She admits the time she spent commuting
to Nashville for five shifts per month was hard.
"I liked it at Nashville but it was a long day," Laura
asserts strongly, describing days that started at 5:30
a.m. in order to arrive in Nashville by 8:00 a.m., with
uncertain hours blurring her arrival back home the next
day.
"We'd get off 8:00," she explains, "but we might have a
flight at 7:30, get back at nine or ten o'clock, then have
paperwork to do. It might be mid-day before I'd get home,
and then sometimes I'd get home and just have to sleep."
And, like many careers, being part of the emergency team
has its "advantages and disadvantages."
"I'm away from kids more than I would like to be; it's
hard on them," she relates soberly. "I worked 8:00 to 5:00
Monday through Friday when they were little. When I
finished EMT school I started working at Methodist
Healthcare-McKenzie Hospital Emergency Medical Services
part-time - I still do - being an EMT and being a nurse
are two totally different things. We work 24-hour shifts
out there also. I try to work at least two shifts per
month out there, plus or minus, and they call me when they
need me, too. I'm a workaholic bad - bad, bad, bad," she
confesses.
The difference in the roles between emergency medical
personnel and nursing that Laura alluded to is one thing
that makes the Air Evac Lifeteam concept so effective,
combining the best assets of the two roles to mold an
unbeatable team.
Laura explains, "Paramedics have more field experience;
more training in emergency skills... Nurses on the other
hand know drugs - why and how much to give - and have a
better overall understanding of disease processes and
what's going on with the patient. Nurses and paramedics
just complement each other."
The Jackson base employs three fulltime nurse-paramedic
teams. Laura's partner is Mark Hayes from Darden,
Tennessee, a paramedic who has been practicing his
emergency skills for the same length of time Laura has
been nursing. Hayes joined the Air Evac team nearly four
years ago.
"He's a wonderful person, I'm telling you," Laura says
decisively regarding her partner's calming, capable
influence. "He's taught me a lot: how things are supposed
to be done, about the different equipment we use. And I'm
a little bit more high strung; he kind of bridles me. He's
a good fella; I couldn't ask for a better partner."
The third member of the team is one of four full-time
pilots - all former military pilots - who work 12-hour
shifts, seven days on and seven off.
The skilled pilots are able to transport the crew directly
to hospital, home, or emergency site with the aid of
global positioning systems onboard the aircraft.
The Air-Evac Lifeteam Jackson Squad
"We do a lot of hospital to hospital transfers from
smaller to bigger hospitals," Laura says, listing cardiac
and respiratory ailments as well as trauma, burns and
medical/surgical complications among the high risk
conditions requiring transportation by helicopter.
The teams also accomplish many "primary flights", flying
directly to the scene of an accident with the assistance
of coordinates provided by ambulance and fire
department/rescue teams' global positioning systems.
Laura's first flight took her team to a field where a
four-wheeler accident had left one teenage girl dead after
the tandem riders collided with a tree. The Air Evac
Lifeteam's mission was to transport the surviving teen to
Vanderbilt hospital for treatments of a femur fracture and
possible closed head injury.
"I was scared to death, but everything went fine; we
didn't have any problems," says Laura, who learned through
routine follow-ups conducted 24 and 48 hours after a
mission that the youth had undergone surgery on her leg
and survived.
Laura went above and beyond the 48-hour follow-up for a
tiny patient transported to Jackson after arresting during
feeding.
"He was four days old and barely three pounds," she says
quietly. "He had gotten choked on his bottle; he aspirated
milk into his lungs. I followed up on that baby for about
two weeks, called in and checked on him. He ended up
dying. Pitiful... pitiful... it was sad."
While the Air Evac Lifeteam's services are available for
any life-threatening emergency, the service is actually
membership-based. "Pay $40.00 per year and fly for free,"
that's what I call it, explains Laura with a note of
excitement. One membership fee covers unlimited flights
with additional household members barely edging up the
premium: $45.00 purchases membership for a couple, $50.00
per year covers a household of three or more and $500.00
buys a lifetime membership.
The Jackson unit averages 50 flights per month, most of
which are non-membership services. Laura has come a long
way since her first fearful flight, racking up 140 flights
during her first year at the Jackson unit, not counting
additional flights this month or those flown from the
Nashville base.
At home, she's a frequent visitor of Smith's Tire Barn,
which is owned and operated by husband Willie.
Her future plans are well rounded, consisting of
continuing her career as a full time flight nurse with the
possibility of returning to school to obtain her paramedic
license and otherwise furthering her nursing career, plus
"spending more time with my family and just having fun."
"I like to swim," says the long and lean athletic lady
whose pastimes also include playing softball, "We have a
pool and in the summer me and the kids like to spend time
together and swim."
"I plan on staying where I'm at right now," she says, her
thoughts returning to her career. "I work a whole lot,
probably more than I should, but I enjoy it; it's not a
job; it's what I do for a living, it's what I chose to do
for a living... So far so good, I'm having a big time."
Interested persons can contact the Air Evac Lifeteam's
Jackson base at 731-425-5688 with questions regarding
membership or to schedule personal appearances at public
relations events or to schedule a Landing Zone Safety
Class with any EMS, Fire/Rescue or First Responders, or
for more information see www.lifeteam.net. |
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