From ICU to the Sky: How Life Flight Nurse Megan Ames Built a High-Stakes Career in the Air
When most people picture nursing, they imagine hospital floors, ICUs, or emergency rooms—not helicopters and fixed‑wing aircraft crossing state lines or even oceans.
In this conversation, Life Flight Nurse Megan Ames pulls back the curtain on the highly specialized world of air medical transport, sharing how she got into the field, what the job really demands, and what aspiring Life Flight nurses must know before pursuing this path.
Discovering a Nontraditional Nursing Path
Megan didn’t always envision herself as a Life Flight nurse. Early on, she was drawn to anesthesia and critical care after “weird adult conversations” with her mom about niche medical roles like nurse anesthetists and perfusionists.
“It was pretty obvious when I was a young kid that I had a science brain.” – Megan Ames
After nursing school, she moved from the Southeast to Utah, joined Intermountain Medical Center, and transitioned into a Shock Trauma ICU. There, frequent interactions with Life Flight teams changed everything: their professionalism, autonomy, and clinical expertise made the role stand out.
“I’m not driven by money versus loving my job… they didn’t have a lot of turnover. It just seemed really cool.” – Megan
She applied to Intermountain Life Flight mostly “for interview experience”—and got hired.
Inside the World of Life Flight Nursing
Contrary to popular belief, Life Flight is not all dramatic accident scenes. Megan estimates roughly 90% of call volume is interfacility transport, moving critically ill patients from smaller or rural hospitals to higher‑level centers for specialized care.
These transports are driven by:
Severity of illness
Time sensitivity (e.g., heart attacks and strokes)
Resource gaps (no cath lab, neurosurgeon, or specialty service)
Distance and logistics (8‑hour ground transport vs. 45‑minute flight)
Life Flight teams operate as a “flying ICU”, bringing advanced capabilities to the bedside: ventilators, blood products, and procedures beyond a typical hospital nurse’s scope, such as intubation, chest decompression, and pericardiocentesis.
“We tell people, we bring the ICU to them… our goal isn’t just to get them from A to B, but that when they get to B, they are doing better.” – Megan
Key Highlights & Takeaways
Most Life Flight calls are interfacility, not scenes. The majority of patients are already in hospitals lacking needed resources.
Critical care experience is non‑negotiable. Intermountain requires a BSN plus minimum 3 years in ICU or ER, with ICU experience translating best.
The job is fluid and unpredictable. Shifts are scheduled, but a call at the end of a 24‑hour shift can easily add several hours.
Risk is real—but so is safety. Aviation is tightly regulated, with daily safety briefings and strict weight, fuel, and weather calculations.
Scope extends beyond people. Megan’s team also supports a canine transport program for police and search‑and‑rescue dogs, combining advanced medicine with specialized training.
What It Really Demands: Skills, Mindset, and Emotional Load
Life Flight nursing combines technical mastery, rapid decision‑making, and emotional resilience.
Core skill areas Megan highlights:
Ventilator management and respiratory failure
Vasopressor drip titration for sepsis and shock
Trauma and multi‑system critical care
Interdisciplinary communication (ED, ICU, specialists, pilots, dispatch, transfer centers)
But the hardest part isn’t just clinical:
“There is a mental and emotional load that comes with the job… most people don’t know the baggage you’re carrying around, because unless you do it, you really don’t understand it.” – Megan
The job also disrupts traditional work–life boundaries. Once a transport starts, you own that patient—there is no handoff at shift change until you’re back, charted, and complete.
A Career You Don’t Want to Leave
Despite the intensity, Megan is unequivocal:
“I would absolutely do this role again… once you do this job, it’s really hard to leave it.” – Megan
The trade‑offs come with unique rewards:
High autonomy and impact in critical moments
Breathtaking environments flying over Utah and the Mountain West
Time at home due to compressed schedules (e.g., one 24‑hour and one 12‑hour shift per week)
A team culture built around excellence, selectivity, and shared purpose
Actionable Advice: How to Prepare for a Life Flight Nursing Career
If you’re serious about becoming a Life Flight nurse, Megan’s recommendations are clear and practical.
1. Choose the Right Foundational Roles
Prioritize units that build deep critical care skills:
Step 1: Get your RN (aim for BSN if you’re targeting programs like Intermountain Life Flight).
Step 2: Work in a large, busy ICU with diverse patient populations (medical, surgical, trauma).
Step 3: Aim for at least 3+ years of ICU or ER—with ICU highly preferred.
“If you have certain goals, choose jobs that help you obtain that goal.” – Megan
2. Seek High-Exposure Environments
Look for:
High volume of ventilated patients
Complex vasoactive drips and invasive monitoring
Frequent interaction with transport and specialty teams
3. Build the Right Mindset
To thrive in air medical transport, you need to:
Stay calm under extreme pressure
Tolerate uncertainty and fluid situations
Handle graphic trauma and high mortality without shutting down
Be willing to sacrifice schedule predictability in exchange for impact
4. Understand the Realities (Pros & Cons)
Biggest upsides:
“Flying ICU” autonomy and advanced skills
Tight‑knit, highly competent teams
Unique missions: backcountry rescues, interstate and international transports, canine transports
Biggest challenges:
Emotional and psychological burden of constant critical cases
Long, unpredictable days that extend beyond scheduled shifts
Higher occupational risk compared with in‑hospital roles
Conclusion: Designing a Career Where Your Skills Truly Matter
Megan’s journey illustrates what career development at its best looks like: aligning natural strengths, deliberate role choices, and meaningful impact. For nurses who love complexity, thrive in crisis, and want to push their clinical practice to the limit, Life Flight nursing is not just a job—it’s a calling.
If you’re exploring advanced nursing paths or considering the leap into air medical transport, start where Megan did: build world‑class ICU skills, seek out high‑acuity environments, and be honest with yourself about the emotional and lifestyle demands.
The sky may literally be the limit but your preparation on the ground is what will get you there.
Megan Ames - Life Flight Nurse currently for Intermountain Health
