Virginia Nurse Honored for Work with Helicopter Crew

Anita Ashby immediately answered "no" when asked whether she and the Med-Flight II crews she oversees ever have average days.

As the Med-Flight II program's chief flight nurse, Ashby, 31, leads a team of pilots, paramedics and flight nurses, whose primary job is to swoop down in a helicopter and whisk seriously injured patients to the nearest hospital.

Based at Virginia Highlands Airport near Abingdon, Med-Flight II is a joint effort between the Virginia State Police, which supplies the primary and backup helicopters and pilots, and Wellmont Health System, which provides the medical staff, equipment and supplies.

The service is designed to provide emergency air transport and care to trauma patients in Southwest Virginia, northeastern Tennessee and southeastern Kentucky.

"You have to be an unsung hero here, because most of the people we help, we never see again," Ashby said last week. "You have to be a team player first, because nobody can do any of this by themselves. And you try to take things as they roll up. You never know when the call is going to come."

Ashby recently was named the 2007 outstanding EMS administrator by the Southwest Virginia Emergency Medical Services Council.

She was born in Buchanan County. Her mother, Iva Pittman, is a health manager for the Head Start program, and her father, Jimmy Pittman, is a retired coal miner.

Ashby received a bachelor of science degree in nursing from Old Dominion University in Norfolk and a master's degree in nursing at Eastern Tennessee State University. While gaining her academic credentials, Ashby worked at Clinch Valley Hospital in Richlands and then at Bristol Regional Medical Center.

She applied for a job with Med-Flight as a part-time nurse in 2001 and became chief flight nurse in August 2005.

Besides managing a staff of 20 employees, Ashby also works one 24-hour shift a week.

"I function just like any other flight nurse, and the critical decisions are made between the flight nurse and flight paramedic," she said.

The service is free, saving patients who are transported thousands of dollars, Ashby said.

"We are the only service in the region like this that's free," she said. "The state [Virginia] pays for aircraft maintenance, fuel and the pilots. Wellmont pays for the crew and supplies."

Despite the long hours required in the life-saving business, interest in working for Med-Flight remains high among current and prospective employees.

"I get lots of calls and e-mails from paramedics and others with medical experience inquiring about a job," Ashby said. "I think the motivation for them is this takes them one step up as far as critical care of a patient."

Ashby prides herself on her crew's continuity - five paramedics have been on board with Med-Flight since 1987. Two of them also received recognition from the Southwest Virginia Emergency Medical Services Council.

Earl Carter, a flight paramedic, was given the 2007 regional award as outstanding EMS educator, and flight nurse Paul Phillips was chosen as the nurse making an outstanding contribution to EMS.

Two helicopters are available for use, with the primary aircraft set up to transport two patients. The second helicopter, which can transport one patient, also assists in police pursuits by employing a spotlight and an infrared device for tracking criminals and for searches involving missing children and adults.

Gary Gray writes for the Bristol Herald Courier.