For many U-M employees, a typical day consists of eight hours of work in an Ann Arbor office building.
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For Survival Flight nurse Jeff Pietsch, a typical day lasts at least 12 hours and may take him from this side of the state to the other side of the country.
“Our flights travel anywhere in the continental U.S.,” Pietsch says. “Our helicopter can travel across the entire lower peninsula of Michigan. For trips further away, we use the hospital jet.”
Survival Flight is the University’s air medical transport program extending the reach of U-M Health System (UMHS) care. It provides rapid response and specialized life support to patients with complicated acute and/or chronic illnesses or injuries.
Survival Flight provides a number of services, including the transport of critically ill and injured patients from local or regional hospitals to specialized treatment facilities within UMHS; the evacuation of critically injured adults and children from accident sites to trauma treatment facilities; the transfer of newborns needing specialized intensive care services; and the transport of organs and organ transplant teams from hospital to hospital.
During any ride, Survival Flight staffs a pilot and two nurse paramedics. Physicians occasionally will go along on a case-specific basis.
“When special transport teams travel along, physicians are on board. Other times, physicians will pick up a shift as part of training. But generally speaking, it’s just the pilot and the two nurse paramedics,” Pietsch says.
Nurse paramedics are qualified to perform medical procedures during the flight when necessary.
“We prefer to complete or begin a procedure before a flight begins,” Pietsch says. “However, if a patient’s condition continues to deteriorate, we are fully capable of handling the situation with the proper materials and skills.
“When a patient is struggling to breathe, we create advanced airways by putting a tube down his or her throat.”
As one might imagine, Survival Flight nurses’ jobs differ from that of University Hospital nurses.
“To begin, Survival Flight nurses take care of all age populations, whereas hospital nurses typically specialize in treating either adults or children,” Pietsch says.
“Furthermore, a Survival Flight nurse works in a more extreme, autonomous environment.
“Severe temperature and environmental conditions affect the job of a Survival Flight nurse as well.”
Under such unique work conditions, Survival Flight nurses are bound to run into exciting flight experiences.
Although traveling to accident scenes provides an adrenaline rush for Pietsch, he considers the complicated flights from one intensive care unit to another the most challenging and exciting. On one such flight, his team took a surgeon along to help a man who had been in a terrible car crash and had suffered acutely damaged lungs.
“It was amazing; the patient had been in terrible shape and within minutes, the accompanying surgeon had drastically improved his condition. It was inspiring to be part of such an experience.”
“The best part about being a Survival Flight nurse is the opportunity to learn and grow every day,” Pietsch says. “Coming into work is never a static experience; there’s a new situation every day. Although the job requires a huge time commitment, particularly with the off-duty requirements, it’s worthwhile.”
Pietsch, who lives in Howell with his wife, has worked at U-M Hospital since 1993. Before that he worked at a small community hospital in his hometown for three years and the Livingston County EMS Department for 10 years. He received his emergency medical services paramedic training from Lansing Community College and his Bachelor of Science in nursing from Eastern Michigan University.
