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Authors: George Ivanoff
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big smile. âIâm your flight nurse for today. My nameâs Josh. And they tell me thatâs your name as well. Howâs that for a coincidence! In all my time as a flying nurse, Iâve never had a patient with my name. I reckon thatâs pretty cool.â He pushed hisblack-rimmed glasses further along his nose, then ran a hand through his spiky, bleached hair. âNow, letâs get you loaded on board.â
Nurse Josh attached the stretcher to a mechanical arm extending from the rear hatch. The gizmo whirred into action, lifting Patient Josh up. Itâs like being on a carnival ride , he thought, and giggled at the silliness of it. He waved down at Matt.
As the mechanism pulled him into the cabin, Nurse Josh climbed the stairs through the front door. He disengaged the stretcher from the arm and secured it to the wall of the plane.
Nurse Josh checked out Patient Josh â his temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, the works. Then came more questions about headaches, nausea, vision, levels of pain.The nausea was under control, but the pain in his leg was on the rise again, as was his headache. Nurse Josh asked him to rate the pain from one to ten, where one was a pinprick and ten was the worst pain he could imagine. Josh gave his head a three and his leg a five.
âGet set for takeoff,â the pilotâs voice sounded over the speaker.
âOnce weâre up and off,â said Nurse Josh, âIâll adjust your pain meds to make you more comfortable.â He sat himself down in the seat opposite the stretcher and did up his belt.
The engine roared and rattled to life. The noise bounced around the cabin and everything shook. Josh watched the liquid trembling in the plastic IV bag.
The plane lurched into motion down the runway, the sound and shaking rising a few notches. The IV bag was now swinging back and forth on its hook. Nurse Joshâs glasses slipped down his nose and he pushed them back up.
And then, moments later, with a stomach-churning whoosh, the plane leaped into the air. Josh gazed through the window as the buildings and treetops dropped away and the clouds drew nearer.
It wasnât long before the aircraft had reached its cruising altitude and the pilot announced that seatbelts could be undone.
âWell, I can unbuckle mine,â quipped Nurse Josh. âBut youâre stuck where you are.â He started adjusting the IV. âItâs going to be about a two-hour flight, so itâs importantthat we keep you comfortable. Please let me know if the pain increases, or if you start to feel anything different. Particular things to watch out for are any sort of muscle stiffness, numbness or pins and needles. Okay?â
Josh nodded.
âRight,â continued the nurse. âWhen you get to Adelaide, theyâre going to administer antivenom. There is a slight risk of allergic reaction to the treatment. Do you have any allergies that youâre aware of?â
âNo,â answered Josh, his fore head crinkling in thought. âBut my aunt is allergic to coconut?â
Nurse Josh smiled. âNo need to worry. The chances of an allergic reaction are less than one per cent. But itâs always best to play it safe. So, Iâm going to give you some antihistamine and hydrocortisone in the IV.These medicines will help reduce the allergic reaction on the off-chance that you have one.â
Josh nodded and closed his eyes. As if getting bitten by a snake wasnât bad enough, he also had to be bitten by one his local hospital didnât have the antivenom for! And there was the risk of allergic reaction: Rash? Lumps? Pain? Inability to breathe? Instantaneous death? He was working himself up into a panic again.
He wished that Mum or Dad was here with him. Or one of his friends. He didnât like facing this alone. He would be a lot braver if he had someone with him ⦠even Ratchet. Heâd grown quite fond of her.
His
Nurse Josh attached the stretcher to a mechanical arm extending from the rear hatch. The gizmo whirred into action, lifting Patient Josh up. Itâs like being on a carnival ride , he thought, and giggled at the silliness of it. He waved down at Matt.
As the mechanism pulled him into the cabin, Nurse Josh climbed the stairs through the front door. He disengaged the stretcher from the arm and secured it to the wall of the plane.
Nurse Josh checked out Patient Josh â his temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, the works. Then came more questions about headaches, nausea, vision, levels of pain.The nausea was under control, but the pain in his leg was on the rise again, as was his headache. Nurse Josh asked him to rate the pain from one to ten, where one was a pinprick and ten was the worst pain he could imagine. Josh gave his head a three and his leg a five.
âGet set for takeoff,â the pilotâs voice sounded over the speaker.
âOnce weâre up and off,â said Nurse Josh, âIâll adjust your pain meds to make you more comfortable.â He sat himself down in the seat opposite the stretcher and did up his belt.
The engine roared and rattled to life. The noise bounced around the cabin and everything shook. Josh watched the liquid trembling in the plastic IV bag.
The plane lurched into motion down the runway, the sound and shaking rising a few notches. The IV bag was now swinging back and forth on its hook. Nurse Joshâs glasses slipped down his nose and he pushed them back up.
And then, moments later, with a stomach-churning whoosh, the plane leaped into the air. Josh gazed through the window as the buildings and treetops dropped away and the clouds drew nearer.
It wasnât long before the aircraft had reached its cruising altitude and the pilot announced that seatbelts could be undone.
âWell, I can unbuckle mine,â quipped Nurse Josh. âBut youâre stuck where you are.â He started adjusting the IV. âItâs going to be about a two-hour flight, so itâs importantthat we keep you comfortable. Please let me know if the pain increases, or if you start to feel anything different. Particular things to watch out for are any sort of muscle stiffness, numbness or pins and needles. Okay?â
Josh nodded.
âRight,â continued the nurse. âWhen you get to Adelaide, theyâre going to administer antivenom. There is a slight risk of allergic reaction to the treatment. Do you have any allergies that youâre aware of?â
âNo,â answered Josh, his fore head crinkling in thought. âBut my aunt is allergic to coconut?â
Nurse Josh smiled. âNo need to worry. The chances of an allergic reaction are less than one per cent. But itâs always best to play it safe. So, Iâm going to give you some antihistamine and hydrocortisone in the IV.These medicines will help reduce the allergic reaction on the off-chance that you have one.â
Josh nodded and closed his eyes. As if getting bitten by a snake wasnât bad enough, he also had to be bitten by one his local hospital didnât have the antivenom for! And there was the risk of allergic reaction: Rash? Lumps? Pain? Inability to breathe? Instantaneous death? He was working himself up into a panic again.
He wished that Mum or Dad was here with him. Or one of his friends. He didnât like facing this alone. He would be a lot braver if he had someone with him ⦠even Ratchet. Heâd grown quite fond of her.
His
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