Case Log 02/05/2024

Case Log

Mission Profile:

Organ Type: Lungs

Wheels Up: ASAP

Scheduled OR time: 0800EST

Donor Location: New York

Recipient Location: Florida

Aircraft Type: Lear 31 Alpha

Activation:

I wake up to a text to my phone at 05:36 – “We have an emergency lung case in New York, how fast can you get to the airport?” 9 minutes later I was dressed in scrubs, grabbed my flight bag, and was headed out the door. My wonderful and very thoughtful wife was a step ahead of me, as I was sliding on my shoes I noticed she had set out a breakfast bar and an energy drink for me. My schedule runs as smoothly as it does because of Redbull.

Flight #1

After gathering all of the supplies and (quickly) double checking we had everything we needed, we headed for the plane. Our ride today was a Lear 31 Alpha, one of my favorites. Fast and mean, the Lear 31 Alpha takes off like a rocket! Pressed back into our seats, we headed for New York and while still missing the warmth of my bed and the comfort of sleeping next to my wife, I thought to myself “not a bad way to start a Sunday”.

Donor Side:

The lung center from Kentucky that originally accepted the lungs had to turn them down due to their recipient having an infection and therefore couldn’t accept the transplant. They called us to procure the lungs for a center in Florida and we were there to answer the call. Arriving a little late to the donor location, we walked into the hospital through the Emergency Department and asked for a security escort to the OR. We always enter through the ED because thats where security sits and they (usually) know everywhere in the hospital. We got our scrubs, donned our caps, (and a beard cover for me) and entered our OR suite to make sure the staff had all the correct instruments and supplies on hand.

An Abundance of Caution:

After starting the dissection – the clinical term for starting the process of taking the lungs out of the donor, we noticed a couple of spots on a lung that looked a little suspect. A quick biopsy of the spot, a swab of a culture stick and a consult with several staff members, it was determined that the spot was benign and was safe for the recipient! Lets get this show on the road!

Flight #2:

Smooth, then bumpy. Very bumpy.

Florida, for those who don’t know, has very unpredictable weather patterns, usually including severe thunderstorms that can pop up out of nowhere. I awoke from a nap on the 2.5 hour flight to the recipient center to some slight turbulence. It was then when I noticed we were swinging out over the Atlantic ocean to avoid some heavy cloud formations. The ocean was angry below us. After some pretty rough air we were safe on the ground for a quick turn around.

Recipient Side:

Because of the surrounding storms and the need to get moving, we were given clearance by the recipient center to send the lungs in the ambulance with the paramedics. They would carefully keep the lungs in their possession until handing them off to waiting OR staff on the recipient side.

Flight #3

We quickly put some fuel on the plane and got back in the air. While we were making our way down the taxiway, an alert popped up on my phone about tornadoes in our area and the need to seek shelter. Better get out of there and fast! Our excellent pilots did a great job of maneuvering us around some of the roughest stuff and had us above the weather in no time. Smooth sailing the rest of the way home, with a BEAUTIFUL sunset greeting us through the cockpit windshield. You know its a good sunset when the pilots are taking photos!