Saving babies’ lives mid-air: NICU transport nurse describes day on the job

Human Interest·By Isabella Childs

One NICU nurse has taken to the skies as she cares for some of the smallest, most vulnerable patients.

Key Takeaways:

Veteran NICU nurse Janice Berry has been caring for NICU patients transported by air to Children's National Hospital in Washington, D.C, for nearly 30 years.
She and her team have a different job every day, but their great attention to the care of their vulnerable patients remains the same.
Berry is a reassuring presence to the babies' parents and also ensures the safety of the babies.

The Details:

After working on the floor of the neonatal intensive care unit at Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., for 12 years, nurse Janice Berry traded her scrubs for a flight suit and stepped onto a transport plane to care for preemie patients.

“Once I got here and I saw what the transport team did, and how they functioned, and everything that they got to do — which is a really unique job — that was what my goal was and what I strived for,” Berry told WTOP.

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Berry has been working at the NICU at Children’s Hospital since 1986, and has been working as a neonatal intensive care unit transport nurse at the hospital for 27 years. According to People and WTOP, Berry has taken thousands of flights across the D.C.-area with premature infants in those years.

Thumbnail for NICU nurse saves tiny lives midair

On a typical day, Berry and her team meet for a briefing with their pilot about the aircraft and weather conditions for the day. The nurses then pack up the portable isolation box usually required for the premature infants. The transport NICU team’s isolation box comes with its own tiny seatbelt inside to keep the little passengers safe during turbulence.

“We generally have a basic idea of what’s going on with the baby, what kind of equipment, what size team that we’re going to need for that transport,” Berry told WTOP. “Sometimes, it’s just myself and a paramedic and either the driver or the pilot. Sometimes we’ll need respiratory therapy, and occasionally we’ll bring a doctor with us as well.”

Berry meets with the infants’ families and reassures them that she and her team will be providing top-quality care to their babies in the air.

“Since we are based in the NICU, I go out as a children’s nurse, meet the families, talk to them about Children’s (National) and the wonderful care that we’re going to give this baby, and help to reassure them. Because generally, this is not a normal birth plan for anyone to have their child transported right after delivery,” Berry said.

While attending to the babies during the flight, Berry and her team also act as safety officers, monitoring the weather, and looking out for any safety concerns for their fragile patients.

Summing It Up:

With Berry's job, almost nothing is simply 'routine.' “I really appreciate that it’s different every day,” she said.

She also loves following up with families and forming relationships with them. “I was invited to a first birthday party recently for someone I transported," she said, "which was pretty amazing to get to see that full circle moment of my little guy doing great.”

With caring staff like Berry looking after them, premature babies as young as 21 weeks, are given a good chance at life – even mid-air.

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