This is the Why

Good morning!

In my role as vice chancellor I have the privilege and honor of representing UMMC in many venues.  It is a pleasure to tell the story of the Medical Center and the wonderful things happening here every day because of your hard work, dedication to excellence and commitment to our mission.

While I am asked countless questions, two of the most frequent are, “HOW do you do this job?” and “WHY do you do this job?”  These questions are easy. 

HOW it is possible to do this job is because of the outstanding leadership team at UMMC – our deans, department chairs, health system leaders, administrative leaders – AND our fantastic faculty and staff, who bring the full measure of their talents, skills, abilities and passion to bear every day to advance UMMC.

WHY I do this job is quite simple – I believe in the mission of this place.  I believe that we are moving forward and making Mississippi stronger and better.  I believe in the 10,000 employees and 3,000 students and their drive to accomplish great things.

Very often, people reach out to me with questions, comments, complaints, compliments or observations.  I appreciate every one of them, even the complaints.  To me, taking the time to send a comment or question reflects your concern and investment in our Medical Center.  It says to me that you care. 

Occasionally, something is sent to me that is so beautiful and so well-written, I know I could not express the sentiments contained in it more eloquently than the writer who has lived the experience.  So, with her permission, for VC Notes today I am sharing a letter sent to me from Nicole Whitson.

THIS IS THE WHY:

Dr. Woodward,

My name is Nicole Whitson, and my husband Brock Whitson, RN is a flight nurse for AirCare 2. On August 24, Brock experienced cardiac arrest while at work on the AirCare 2 aircraft. Brock was working with his partner for the past six years, James Walters RN, MS-CCP. Brock, James and Davin Mancini, AirCare pilot, had just dropped a patient at UMMC approximately 20 minutes prior, and they were headed back to their base at Meridian. Around 5:45 a.m., James and Davin heard a "thud" in the back of the helicopter: It was Brock. These brave men began a series of events that not only saved Brock's life, but also set the plans into motion for what would become nothing short of a miraculous recovery and any chance Brock had for a future with a normal life.

The extraordinary bravery and skill of these men overwhelms me completely. I have been a nurse myself for over 25 years. As the wife of an AirCare flight nurse, I am well-versed at the skill level that these flight crew members possess in order to preserve lives on a daily basis. Over the 10 years Brock has been employed at UMMC, I have always been impressed with the commitment to excellence these men and women possess when delivering care to the patient in need. He has always been so proud to be an AirCare flight crew member, and to work alongside such highly skilled clinicians and pilots. Never once did it enter my mind that the patient who would be transported to the state's most renowned institution, with the most highly skilled flight crew, on the most well-equipped critical care aircraft in the state, would BE my husband, and not simply BY my husband. Since the day this event occurred, I have replayed this unbelievable story repeatedly in my mind. My husband, a healthy, 42-year-old man, who helped deliver his patient safely to UMMC less than half an hour before, became the patient himself.

In the middle of what must have been a chaotic moment, Brock's partners had the wherewithal to safely land the aircraft in the best possible location and begin a set of life-saving maneuvers. These strategic events, that I am not certain could have been more meticulously and strategically carried out in a setting that was prepared and expectant of a patient to arrive in critical condition, were the first steps for the miracle that would follow. A pilot, Davin Mancini, was taught to deliver, with precision, life-saving CPR in a matter of seconds, and a critical care flight nurse, James Walters, performed, in solo, every skill he had ever learned to save the life of their partner and friend. I simply cannot fathom the emotion going through the minds of these men as they raced to establish an airway, an IV access to deliver ACLS meds, and ultimately a heartbeat on Brock, when for SIXTEEN minutes there was NONE.

Skillfully they worked as they had requested another AirCare unit to come for assistance shortly after they realized there was a problem, and three more highly skilled crew members arrived to begin their part in this amazing rescue. Pilot Kody Comans and critical care clinicians Will Appleby, MS-CCP and Mark Randall, RN arrived on scene within minutes to assist the team with what James and Davin had begun. The five of these men headed back to UMMC on AirCare 1 in a fury of life-saving adrenaline to give my husband his best possible chance to live again.    

Following his arrival at the ER at UMMC, I was contacted by Brock’s immediate supervisor, Sam Marshall, and headed to Jackson from Hattiesburg, where we live.  I arrived at the ER and was greeted by the men who worked to save Brock's life and his administrators – Sam Marshall, Jeremy Benson and, later, Dr. Damon Darsey – and I was taken into the ER where a congregation of clinicians were in full force trying to keep Brock alive. I have to say in those moments it did not look good at all, and it was explained that chances were high that Brock may die or have brain damage because of his hypoxia during the arrest.  At that time, my life slowed to a crawl where I clung to seconds of mercy and grace that held minutes together that would later turn into hours and then days.

Days of remarkable improvement in the ICU were followed by a transfer to the telemetry floor, and from the moment the doors opened in the ER to the moment they closed behind us after discharge, every individual we encountered from physician, clinician, housekeeping employee, nutrition services representative, physical therapists, occupational therapists, technicians of every type went above and beyond my wildest imagination to care for me and my husband. In all 25 years of my nursing career, I have never seen such camaraderie and skill come together to make an outcome so successful. There was not a single encounter with any individual who was less than professional and kind. AirCare director Stephen Houck brought me food, clothes and necessities donated by AirCare and MED-COM. I was showered with kindness and support daily. I was overwhelmed with the kindness of this group of men and women. Amazingly, Brock improved, and on Day 13 we were discharged from UMMC to go home – without life-altering deficits. This was simply a miracle where God Himself orchestrated a dedicated group of professionals to use their expertise to fulfill His plan.

I want to tell you this story so that you can be as proud of your employees as I am. I feel so proud that Brock is an employee of UMMC, and always have, but I have never gotten to truly experience this for myself. I have never gotten to experience for myself the loyalty that he has always had to UMMC, or fully understand why. I have never felt the heightened sense of expectation for education and excellence the way I did in every department we stepped into. I have never gotten to experience a teaching facility where nursing students, physical therapy students and medical students at all levels participate in the patient's care. I have never encountered anything like this, and it has changed the way I deliver care to my patients and families and my expectation of medical excellence forever.

I have wondered many times since this tragic event happened if I would have the same positive feelings if Brock had not lived, and I now know without a doubt that I would. As difficult as my life would be without him, I know that I would be just as proud because I saw these amazing people working so hard to save his life. Those individuals' best efforts were not mundane and passive; they were actively seeking to save his life and to change my life and the life of my daughter in a positive way forever. I will be forever grateful for every professional who encountered Brock Whitson, RN on the worst day of his life and turned that day into the best day of the rest of his life. 

Thank you for instilling greatness into your employees because they are truly a group of amazing people who each deserve to be recognized for their efforts. Three months ago, Brock walked across the stage at his UMMC graduation ceremony where he graduated with his Master's in Health Science – his capstone topic “Compassion Fatigue: A Study of a Group of Critical Care Flight (AirCare) Clinicians.” This study has never been more meaningful than it is today. May God bless you all in your work.

With the utmost respect.

Nicole Whitson  

Postscript:  We learned last week that Brock’s capstone thesis referenced above has won the 2019 Airbus Vision Zero Aviation Safety Award from the Association of Air Medical Services.  Congratulations, Brock, and thank you, Nicole, for reminding us all why we do this work that is so rewarding and so vital in helping us achieve our goal of A Healthier Mississippi.