ANN ARBOR, Mich. â€" Flight nurses Michael Chesney, R.N., and David Roberts, R.N., of the University of Michigan Health System’s Survival Flight took first place in the seventh annual Air Medical Crew competition at the Air Medical Transport Conference in Minneapolis, Minn.
(Media-Newswire.com) - ANN ARBOR, Mich. – Flight nurses Michael Chesney, R.N., and David Roberts, R.N., of the University of Michigan Health System’s Survival Flight took first place in the seventh annual Air Medical Crew competition at the Air Medical Transport Conference in Minneapolis, Minn.
Proven to be experts in providing emergency medical care, Chesney and Roberts successfully defended their title against 14 other teams from around North America. As one of three teams that advanced to the final round, Survival Flight was able to correctly diagnose and treat patients through a series of simulated life-saving scenarios including: a pediatric trauma patient, an adult patient with a diabetic ketoacidosis and a myocardial infarction, and a 15-year-old with post-viral cardiomyopathy.
Medical Educational Technologies Inc., or METI, the sponsor of the competition, manufactures the simulators used during the competition. The teams were scored based on the timeliness and accuracy of the medical care that was delivered, the skill with which procedures were performed, and how well they worked together as a team.
“I could not be more proud of their accomplishments” says Mark J. Lowell, M.D., medical director of Survival Flight. “They both spent countless hours reading, studying and preparing. In the end, though, their award represents the effort of many others from within the Health System. Many of their flight nurse colleagues as well as others from other departments within the U-M Health System put them through practice scenarios to help them prepare.”
This is the third title for Chesney and Roberts. They won the competition in 2007, and tied for first place at the 2008 International Competition held in Prague, Czech Republic.
Chesney has been a Survival Flight team member since 2001. He began his career with UMHS in the Emergency Department in 1993 . Today, he serves on the UMHS education committee. As a licensed paramedic instructor coordinator, Chesney is a frequent presenter at Michigan’s EMS Expo and Survival Flight conferences as well. Roberts started his medical career in the U.S. Navy as a Hospital Corpsman. He earned his nursing degree in 1993. After working in several intensive care units and emergency departments, Roberts began his career with UMHS in 1997 and became a flight nurse with Survival Flight in 1999.
Survival Flight was recognized in other areas as well. In addition to the METI cup, Denise Landis, R.N., manager for critical care transport at UMHS, received the Association of Air Medical Services’ Barbara A. Hess award. This award recognizes an individual who has significantly contributed to the enhancement, development or promotion of the emergency medical industry through research or educational efforts.
Kris Nelson, R.N., a flight nurse with Survival Flight, nominated Landis for the Barbara A. Hess award and describes her as someone that has “contributed relentlessly to every aspect of the medical transport community since its virtual inception.” Landis established the Medical Transport Leadership Institute which works to teach and train the leaders within the transport community. Landis has been with Survival Flight since 1994, initially as a flight nurse; quickly becoming chief flight nurse in 1985, and then the nurse manager in 1991. She was one of the founders of the Michigan State chapter of the Association of Air Medical Services and currently serves as a board member. She is also involved with the Michigan Association of Ambulance Services. Lowell notes, “With the recent proliferation of helicopter programs in our area, it is important to remember that it is not the aircraft but the expertise of the flight crew that is most important, and these awards demonstrate what makes Survival Flight different from the others.”
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