Rural Healthcare - Indian Style

I had my first taste of rural healthcare today.  We had to drive 30 miles to a "hospital".  It honestly looked like an old mental hospital like you see in the movies.  It was a 1 bed ER.  We were there to pick up a patient that had been stabbed 3 times by his sister with scissors.  This is the second time she has stabbed him.  Needless to say that was an interesting 30 min ambulance ride to the plane followed by another interesting 1+ hour flight to Flagstaff, AZ.
Yesterday, I was flying out of Las Cruses, NM as a huge thunderstorm was rolling in.  I was freaking out, Matt (pictured below) was giggling like a little girl and yelling out "yahoo" as we banked hard to the left to avoid lightening strikes.   The radar was lit up red and Matt handed me his i-pod with strict instructions to listen to it.  I tried to send a text to my family that said, "I'm alright.  Just wanted to tell you I love you."  Thankfully the text did not go through.  That would have freaked out my family.  When we were finally in the clear Matt said, "That was some scary shit back there!".   Matt has been flying for over 10 years and does not get scared easily.  He then informed me that he laughs and giggles when he is nervous.  I wish I didn't know that.

One of the joys of living on the reservation is that we only have one grocery store and the nearest WalMart is over 2 hours away.  So when we fly into towns like Flagstaff, AZ or Farmington, NM we go shopping.  Below is a picture of flight coming back from NM after a shopping trip at Walmart.

Notice the HEPA filter (for the sand) seatbelted to the stretcher and the various housewares behind the cargo net.  This is another Matt.

During the last dust storm we decided to have a crew BBQ indoors since going outside was suicide.  This is Matt grilling ribs and steak in the broiler.

Left to Right: Matt L., Delores, Kelli

Matt S., Kelli, & Delores

I love my new job.  Believe it or not.  The people I work with are fantastic and we fly some interesting patients from interesting places.  Plus, each flight is like a roller coaster due to wind and heat.