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Vara works 10 days a month at the fire department, and a minimum of 24 hours a week at the hospital. His off hours are spent with his wife and three children, who range in age from 13 months to 13 years.

“Working in the emergency field has made me appreciate my family more,” Vara says. “When I leave the house, I hug them a little harder and kiss them a little longer, because I see how quickly your life can change.”

Critical care in the air

Randy Endsley, RN, CEN, fully admits to being an adrenaline junkie.

He divides his days between working as a chief medical crew supervisor for HALO-Flight air ambulance service and as an emergency department nurse at Christus Spohn Hospital Corpus Christi-Memorial.

Endsley’s schedule involves working full-time graveyard shifts at the hospital and then eight 24-hour monthly shifts as a flight nurse.

“I enjoy working in the emergency field and my two jobs allow me variety,” Endsley says. “As a flight nurse, you have a patient for approximately a half hour and you stabilize them, transport them to the nearest hospital, and then go on to the next call.”

Because HALO’s flight nurses work 24 hours on and 72 hours off, they all hold down second jobs, many as emergency department or critical care nurses.

“Working as a flight nurse utilizes your ER skills, but also takes you to the next level,” Endsley says.

“We make many decisions that would usually be made by an ER physician, such as whether to intubate a patient, or what drugs to administer.”

Endsley combats work stress by talking with his fellow flight nurses and paramedics, as well as his wife, about calls that have been particularly traumatic. “Knowing that you did everything you could possibly do on a call gives you some comfort,” he says.

Yet there are still some calls that hit home. “Calls involving children are the worst,” Endsley says. “I have two children, and I see my own children in the faces of the kids we treat.”

Preparing for disasters

For Cassie Richard, RN, CEN, an emergency department nurse at Oregon Health & Science University, life is a constant adventure.

In addition to her job at OHSU, Richard is a volunteer member of the Oregon Disaster Medical Team, a Level 1 federal Disaster Medical Assistance Team composed of more than 100 paramedics, physicians, nurses, and emergency medical technicians.

The team provides relief health care services when local, county, and mutual aid reserves are overwhelmed due to a mass casualty incident or disaster. Deployments have included traveling to areas hit by Tropical Storm Allison in Texas and to the Winter Olympic Games in Utah.

Even though both her jobs can be stressful, Richard realizes the importance of de-stressing.

“In both my job at the ER and with the [disaster team], there are structured debriefings for particularly difficult situations,” Richard says. “When I’m home, I try to spend quality time with my family or enjoy a ride on one of my horses.”

The most trying cases for Richard are those involving children. “I remember caring for a child who was injured in a freak accident,” she says. “There were several new nursing grads in the ER who had never seen a trauma code much less witness a child die.”

Knowing that the disaster team has been given Level 1 status and could be one of the first deployed in the event of a national disaster keeps Richard grounded.

“I find my job challenging and enjoyable,” she says. “Yet the nature of my work makes me appreciate all life has to offer and to never tempt the fates.”