BE CAREFUL!!!

Yesterday arrived bright and sunny, although somewhat cold, after the
sequence of low pressure systems rolled through the end of last week.
A friend emailed me Sunday morning that she was going to be at the
airport and wanted to know if I wanted to get a closer look at the sun.
I contacted her and made arrangements to meet her at 1 pm.

We were going to fly a 172 to check the operation of the avionics for
some instrument work, but the aircraft on the ramp were snow covered and
we didn't feel like working in single-digit weather to clear the one we
wanted off.

The alternative was to fly one of the hangared aircraft. The snowplows
had cleared the snow up to a foot or so from the hangar doors, but there
were still hard packed snow and icy patches. We raised the hangar door,
she hand shoveled what snow was in front of the airplane while I got the
preheater going.

After 15 minutes, the engine was toasty and ready, so we pulle the plane
out. She pulled her car into the hangar while I drove the preheater back
to the club office. When I returned, she was sumping the tanks (I
thought she had already done that while the preheater was running.) I
pulled my van into the hangar and proceeded to close the hangar door.

When the door was closed, I opened the man door to exit. Looking out, I
saw my friend lying on the ground on her back holding her shoulder.
"Are you okay?"
"NO!"
As I am walking over, I ask, "What happened?"
"I slipped as I was coming around the strut to get into the airplane."
"Where does it hurt?'
"My shoulder!"
"Can you sit up?"
"No, it hurts too much!"
"Let me get the van." (I don't think I said anything as stupid as "Stay
still" or "Don't move", but I may have.)
I've been trained in advanced rescue and first aid as part of my job,
but not I am thinking, "How do I handle this?"
So I go back to the hangar, open the door, back my van up besider her.
I get her up to her feet and into the van and ask, "Do you want to sit
up or lay down?"
She said lying down would feel better so she lays down on the back seat.
The airport has a firestation at the entrance, so I drive to that.
I get out of the van, knock on the door, a fireman comes, "I need a
paramedic, my friend fell on the ice."
Three of them come out, ask some questions, and move her inside.
She is sitting up, the pain so intense you can see it on her face and
hear it in the weakness of her voice.
The EMT/Paramedics are checking her shoulder, asking the pertinent
questions and finally decide to transport her to the ER. They place her
arm in a sling and tie it close to her body to immobilize it.
I don't recall what the parmedic said to my friend, but she asked, "Are
you a doctor?"
Being a smart mouth, I blurt out, "No, but I stayed at a Holiday Inn
once." To which one of the other EMT's smiled and said, "I was thinking
the same thing."
I excused myself at that point to get her car out of the hangar and gear
out of the airplane so line service can put the airplane back in the
hangar. I tell them I will meet them at the hospital.
The injury occurred at 2:10 pm. We arrived at the hospital at 3:00pm
By the time I got back to examining room to be with her it was 3:30 pm.
The nurse had done the prep work, the ER doc had done the triage, now
the waiting game began.
The nurse hooks her up to the monitors. Morphine for the pain. We waited
for someone from radiology to come get her so they could take some
pictures and evaluate what was wrong. More waiting. The nurse brought in
warm blankets. More waiting. The nurse comes back to check several
times. It's a dislocated shoulder, nothing is broken. Someone will come
to pop it back into place. More waiting. The ER doc comes back, pops it
into place (pretty neat to watch!). More waiting. Someone from radiology
comes back to take her to get more pictures to see it everything is
where it should be. They bring her back. More waiting. Everything looks
good, they are processing release paperwork.
Four hours later, she is discharged at 7:00 pm.
I took her home. She had been feeling better and thought she might like
something to eat, so I get her some tea and salad (wrong thing to do.)
The drugs were wearing off and post tramatic shock was setting in. She
qot nauseaus with the usual results. Then she started feeling tired.

My wife and I decide to drive her home. It's off to the airport,
transfer to her car, my wife follows us to her house. By the time we get
back to our house it's 9:30 pm.
And that, dear friends is how I spent my alloted flying time, yesterday.