Trauma Junkie : Memoirs of an Emergency Flight Nurse

**__"Trauma Junkie gives us a view over the flight nurse's shoulder from liftoff until the patient is delivered to the hospital and the agonizing minutes in between. These fascinating true stories are impossible to put down." -- James M. Betts, MD, Chief of Department of Surgery and Director of Trauma Services, Children's Hospital, Oakland__** **__"An exciting portrayal of emergency nursing."__ -- Library Journal** **__"Fast-paced nonfiction that reads like an adventure story."__ -- School Library Journal** In **__Trauma Junkie__**, readers accompany veteran flight nurse Janice Hudson as she races in response to emergency calls in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her workplace is a cramped California Shock Trauma Air Rescue (CALSTAR) helicopter in which medical personnel try to fix the human carnage wrought by shootings, accidents and natural disasters. In this new and expanded edition, Hudson updates readers on how she and her colleagues have fared since moving on to different medical roles -- including her own battle with multiple sclerosis, which ultimately forced her to give up the job she loved. The new __**Trauma Junkie**__ also contains several previously unpublished stories, including a new addition to the lineup of "stupid human tricks" Hudson witnessed and an all-new chapter describing a call involving the most heartbreaking of patients: a child who didn't make it. Hudson is a natural storyteller who conveys the excitement of her days with calstar -- heroic rescues, tragic deaths and the hilarious incidents that made the tension bearable -- and the deep commitment of her team to keep patients alive in the most perilous situations. For information on California Shock Trauma Air Rescue Ambulances Services please visit www.calstar.org "Trauma Junkie gives us a view over the flight nurse's shoulder from liftoff until the patient is delivered to the hospital and the agonizing minutes in between. These fascinating true stories are impossible to put down." -- James M. Betts, MD, Chief of Department of Surgery and Director of Trauma Services, Children's Hospital, Oakland"An exciting portrayal of emergency nursing." -- Library Journal"Fast-paced nonfiction that reads like an adventure story." -- School Library JournalIn Trauma Junkie, readers accompany veteran flight nurse Janice Hudson as she races in response to emergency calls in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her workplace is a cramped California Shock Trauma Air Rescue (calstar) helicopter in which medical personnel try to fix the human carnage wrought by shootings, accidents and natural disasters.In this new and expanded edition, Hudson updates readers on how she and her colleagues have fared since moving on to different medical roles -- including her own battle with multiple sclerosis, which ultimately forced her to give up the job she loved.The new Trauma Junkie also contains several previously unpublished stories, including a new addition to the lineup of "stupid human tricks" Hudson witnessed and an all-new chapter describing a call involving the most heartbreaking of patients: a child who didn't make it.Hudson is a natural storyteller who conveys the excitement of her days with calstar -- heroic rescues, tragic deaths and the hilarious incidents that made the tension bearable -- and the deep commitment of her team to keep patients alive in the most perilous situations. Nursing,Emergency,Emergency Medicine,Nurses,Occupational & Industrial Medicine,Medical,Emergency Medical Personnel,General,Personal Memoirs,Biography & Autobiography,Women Is There An Afterlife? Janice Hudson, Who's Seen Her Share Of Death, Ventures An Assuring Yes In This Memoir About Her Years As A Trauma Nurse. In May 1987, Newlywed Intensive-care Nurse Hudson Was Recruited To Join A Helicopter Ambulance Service And Fly Out To Accidents, Scrape Up The Patients And Try To Get Them To Qualified Care In That First 'golden Hour, ' When They'd Have The Best Chance For Meaningful Survival After Traumatic Injuries. Hudson Hits On The Usual Suspects: Barroom Brawls, Failed Suicide Attempts, And Grisly Car Wrecks. She Also Recounts What Are Likely To Be Some Of The More Unusual Cases, Including A Call From A Woman Who Insisted That Her Mountaintop Home Was Being Overrun By An Army Of Mountain Lions (which Turned Out To Be A Single Housecat, Amplified Thanks To The Caller's Diet Of Alcohol And Crystal Meth). Death Is A Constant In Her Pages, But So Is Hudson's Belief That Something Interesting Awaits Us Afterward, As A Few Of Her Eerie Anecdotes Attest.-amazon. Lifting Off -- A Day In The Life -- Emotional Bunkers -- The Amazing Jim -- We're Not Omnipotent -- In The Dead Zone -- Hard Lessons -- Blown Away On Interstate 5, And Other Stupid Human Tricks -- Why I Missed Vince's Party -- Too Close To Home -- High Drama And Low Comedy -- Aren't You Afraid You're Going To Crash? -- The Day Oakland Burned -- Two Feet On The Ground -- A Time To Die -- The Hardest Drive Home. Janice Hudson. Includes Index.