Doing the right thing with Senior Professional Flight Nurse II Mike Schreyer
Meet Mike Schreyer, RN CFRN HP, who is one of STAT MedEvac’s longest-tenured flight crew members. He is a Senior Professional Flight Nurse II based out of Greensburg, PA. Get to know Schreyer through the following Q&A STAT MedEvac spotlight:
How long have you been with STAT MedEvac?
I started work as an ICU and ER nurse and flew for a competing program out of Johnstown, PA. I transferred to Altoona Regional, at the time, to help start their trauma program as the director of pre-hospital care working through the ER. I was also instrumental in bringing STAT MedEvac to Altoona, starting the aircraft base there in 2001. “It’s been a long time.”
How did you get to a senior level?
Time, ongoing education, and experience, but completing projects and following through with contributions to the company.
Explain what your daily duties entail:
To start the day, I come in and get the reports from the off-going shift. I make sure to check all of the equipment prior to any missions I might be sent on during the shift. This includes checking for quality, aircraft medical supplies, blood storage and products, and being prepared for the first mission. Crews have specific administrative assignments and duties that are also completed.
Why did you pursue public safety?
Public safety has been in my bloodline forever. My father was a fire chief and fire rescue instructor my whole life. He taught up and down the east coast, so I was always around it. I also was a volunteer fireman holding multiple administrative duties in addition to line officer responsibilities since I was 18 years old.
Continued:
I did things a little backwards related to the “normal progression.” I became a nurse before attending a paramedic program. I was part of a team that started Northern EMS, an advanced life support EMS service in Somerset County, and managed that program for several years as I was starting my career as a flight nurse. I was also an adjunct instructor for two community colleges, taught non-suppression courses for the fire academy, and taught farm rescue and injury prevention with Penn State University.
Do you have a memorable moment with STAT MedEvac? Any cool stories?
I cannot speak of any specific patient missions, but you can imagine that there a quite a few over the past 20 plus years, but I can say that every day of work is memorable, the fact that I get to come to work fly in state-of-the-art aircrafts, work with wonderful people and make a difference in someone else’s life is very fulfilling.
It really just comes down to the nature of the job. You see people at their worst time. It includes not only providing the best medical care you can do for the patient but providing the best compassion, empathy, and spiritual care for them and their family during that time is just as important.
One of the best quotes people remind me of saying all the time is, “Just do the right thing.”
Do you have any advice for people pursuing in your field?
STAT MedEvac is a leader in our industry with a very progressive outlook. We get the best of the best medical equipment so that we can take care of the people we deal with. Our ongoing education for our staff is second to none. Our Medical leadership is progressive and continues to help shape the future of pre-hospital and emergency care. My advice would be is to obtain critical care experience and prehospital experience. It is a requirement to get that experience, whether it be in an emergency department or in an intensive care setting. The orientation program for our company is very extensive and all of our staff are required to become certified as a flight paramedic or nurse.
Continued:
You also have to be a critical thinker and be prepared to make decisions in a split second, because you are making life-saving decisions at 8 o’clock in the morning and sometimes at 3 o’clock in the morning. It could be in the hospital or alongside the turnpike. There is high stress but only for short periods. It is a job that you love or hate, there are few people in the middle; I am extremely fortunate that I have a never-ending passion for what I do.