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Nurses have several aviation-related careers from which to choose that combine nursing with flying. Dwayne Howerton, RN, is a certified flight registered nurse for CareFlite, a Dallas/Fort Worth-area emergency air ambulance service that provides accident victims quick access to emergency care via helicopter.

Dwayne Howerton likes to joke that he has no fear of heights: It’s gravity that scares him. Yet, as often as 10 times in a single day, this nurse and paramedic climbs into a helicopter and takes to the skies.

Howerton, RN, is a 33-year-old certified flight registered nurse for CareFlite, a Dallas/Fort Worth-area emergency air ambulance service that, among other things, provides accident victims with quick access to emergency care via helicopter.

“I have a big passion for flying and I have a big passion for taking care of people who are sick, and there’s not another job that combines the two better than this,” said Howerton, who became a nurse in 1995 and has been with CareFlite for four years.

Many probably have never pondered combining aviation and nursing. But nurses have several aviation-related careers from which to choose that combine nursing with flying or, at least, provide close proximity to people who do.

In addition to working as a flight nurse on emergency air rescue calls, nurses can work for air ambulance services that transport patients by plane to hospitals near their homes or to health care facilities that provide specialized care.

Nurses also can work for airlines or air ambulance services as escorts for people who require a nurse to travel with them on commercial airlines. Other career options include working in an airport clinic or employment as an occupational health nurse for an airline.

The genesis for Howerton’s career came right before his high school graduation when his grandfather was injured in an auto accident on the way to graduation weekend. A helicopter airlifted him to a hospital and Howerton credits the quick access to medical care as contributing to his survival.

“It planted the seed for me to get into medicine at some point and was sort of the seed for air medical,” he said.

Howerton said there’s no way to predict how many calls will come in on a given day. Some days go by without any calls, while on others as many as 10 come in. He said he averages about three to four calls a day.

Once on the scene, his job is to support emergency medical personnel on the ground until the patient can be placed in a helicopter, which is set up like a miniature emergency room.

“Anything we can do on the ground or in the back of an ambulance we can do in the back of a helicopter,” he said. “We’ve been trained to take care of those things and perform our skills in a helicopter just as well as we can perform them standing in a room.”

Once the patient is in the helicopter, Howerton’s primary duties are to make sure an airway is established and initiate more IVs. He also gives a patient report to the hospital, telling it what has been done and what might need to be done once they arrive. After landing, the patient is taken to the emergency room, where Howerton gives another report, answers questions and, sometimes, meets with family members.

To work as a flight nurse for CareFlite, nurses must be licensed paramedics and have five years’ nursing experience working in the intensive care unit or emergency room (and preferably both) in a tertiary hospital with a Level I or Level II trauma center. Nurses also must complete an advanced cardiac life-support class, pediatric advanced life-support class, neonatal resuscitation program and an advanced trauma life-support class.

“I think primarily what gets you in the door is showing them that you have the motivation to go out and do the things they require for you to get the job,” Howerton said.

Camille Crim, marketing director for CareFlite, said the pay scale for flight nurses in the industry is $16 to $30 an hour, with $23 an hour being the mid-range. She said CareFlite doesn’t pay flight nurses less than $23 an hour because the company requires that they have experience.