29 Apr 2024 501Der Women 2024: Care in the Air
By KD Reep
As a child, you dream of many roles you’ll play when you grow up: astronaut, cowgirl, movie star, parent. Latricia Maynard knew what she would do when she became an adult, and she is still doing that today: a flight nurse.
“It is all I have ever wanted to do,” she said. “Since I was a kid and growing up in north Arkansas, I would go with my dad, who ran the wrecker service. I was a daddy’s girl, so I went everywhere with him on his calls. I got a glimpse of med flight when they came to get a patient, and I was in love. I said, ‘I will do that one of these days.’”
Maynard began pursuing her dream when she earned her paramedic license. “My whole adult life has been geared toward becoming or getting on the helicopter,” she said. “I went to emergency medical technician school and worked on an ambulance in Little Rock and Faulkner County. I then went to nursing school while I was an EMT and became a registered nurse. I think, in total, I’ve been a paramedic for a little over 30 years and a nurse for 17. I started flying in 2010, then came to Survival Flight in 2016, which is where I work now.”
Maynard, who lives in Vilonia, is based out of Russellville, working 24-hour shifts with a helicopter pilot and another medical professional, either a paramedic or flight nurse.
“Our shifts start at 8 a.m., and we immediately check our aircraft to make sure everything’s functioning as it should be,” Maynard explained. “We stay up to date on our daily education requirements. We never know what our day is going to look like from moment to moment. It may be quiet right now, and five minutes later, we are getting in the aircraft and lifting off for a major accident on the freeway.”
Maynard says Survival Flight helps with hospital transfers from smaller facilities to those that provide more resources the patient needs, like specialized care for neurosurgery or cardiology. The teams, which include a pilot, nurse and paramedic, have everything on board to stabilize a patient to get them to a facility where they can get more care.
“My whole adult life has been geared toward becoming a nurse and getting on the helicopter,” Maynard said. “Whether it was becoming a paramedic or pursuing my nursing degree, I’ve seen lots of stuff, and truly, in my mind, I have the best job in the world. When I get up to come to work, I don’t dread it. I feel like I’m getting up to do what I’ve been called to do.”
Maynard says she is fortunate her family not only understands her commitment to service but also shares in it.
“My husband is a paramedic-turned-nurse as well, and our daughter is also a registered nurse,” she explained. She works in the ICU at Baptist, my husband works for the VA, and we understand each other. I think it’s very difficult when you have someone opposite you who is not in the business, and they don’t necessarily understand the things that we see and go through and the emotional rollercoaster that sometimes we get into.”
Another benefit of working as a flight nurse is getting to know the patients she treats and following their recovery and life accomplishments. “I’m still friends with some patients that I have taken care of,” she said. “I’ve got one girl that I flew with when she was 16. She was not expected to survive, and now I talk to her on Facebook. Now, she’s engaged, I went to her graduation, and it’s been years since that accident. I feel like every patient I touch gives me an opportunity to make a difference in their life. I take a lot of what I see home, but because I am very passionate about what we do, I want to be here to serve the community. I’m at work today, and it’s supposed to be my day off!”