Road trips are procedures that require a patient to leave their unit and travel to another area of the hospital to have a procedure. I have been an ICU nurse for 14 years. I have been on dozens of road trips with critically ill children. Most of these are done emergently or urgently with the sickest of patients. These patients are typically ventilated, on significant inotropic support or on ECMO and CRRT. Road trips are difficult (and often very scary) because of all the moving parts. First, there is the patient: machines, tubing, connections, changing vital signs, cords, central lines, cannulas, cables, and scared family members. Then there is the actual travel: multiple team members, emergency drugs, bag ventilation, sharp turns, tight spaces, elevators that don't come, elevators that take you to the wrong floors, hallways that are blocked with pallets of supplies and equipment that is delicate and not meant to roll.

One weekend in December was one of the more difficult and intense 72 hours for our PCICU team. We had two unplanned admissions who shortly after arrival required emergent ECMO cannulation. Erin Glikes was the ECMO coordinator for the weekend. Erin has a knack for showing up before you need her. She just appears and is ready to move. Her previous role as an ICU nurse gives her the situational awareness that can save minutes when seconds matter. She is calm and clear. She knows our team and patients. She thinks through events before they happen. She is an expert at what she does. The success of the weekend was largely in part due to her expertise and awareness. She coordinated and safely completed 7 road trips between two patients to the CT scanner over a 48-hour period.

On Sunday we were taking another road trip. Erin was at the bedside to help the team prepare and organize the patient with the ECMO machine and cannulas. She knew exactly how to position everyone and everything on the elevator to safely fit the 6 person team, bed, and ECMO circuit onto the elevator. Upon arrival to CT she coordinated the movement of the patient, with cannulas and IV poles off of the bed and onto the scanner bed. The CT was completed and we began to prepare to move the patient back onto the bed. In a movement of lowering a bedside rail, Erin’s gloved finger was smashed by the bed. I saw her wince and keep moving. I could tell by her face that she was in a lot of pain. She barely paused other than to make a quiet joke about passing out, and said “we can look at this when we get back to the unit”. Her glove was torn and I knew her finger was bleeding. She continued the methodical process of returning the patient to the bed and returning him once again safely to his ICU room.

As an ICU nurse, you see incredible acts. You see patients who fight against all odds to stay alive and families who show unimaginable kindness and compassion in the face of tragedy. You watch your team members press on through fatigue, pressure, fear, hurt, and sleeplessness to still deliver the best care possible. Erin was one of our heroes last weekend. She was nothing short of incredible with her skills, timing, knowledge, and most notably her amazing attitude. She did our patients and our Team such a service by being so excellent at her job and caring so much. She is a true DAISY Nurse.