Jan. 2022 | Vol. 02 Iss. 01
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Centerville/Farmington
YOUR C O M M U N I T Y N E WS PA P E R
ROCK CLIMBER AND ARTIST FOUND HIS CALLING AS LIFE FLIGHT NURSE By Sarah Segovia | s.segovia@mycityjournal.com
B
rent Palmer started out as an artist – until he found his true passion – being a life flight nurse and rescue operator. Now he combines both. “During patient transports you never know what could happen,” said Palmer a Centerville local. “A patient’s heart could stop, they could stop breathing. Their life depends on your split-second decisions. As a life flight rescue operator, you often see people on the worst day of their life as they are going through something catastrophic. You’re there to help or console them.” It has been a hard journey, he said. “But I have been much happier being a nurse than an illustrator. As an illustrator you often work for hours on your own and you can feel very isolated. Being a nurse you get the opportunity to talk and connect with people. I'm a very social person, this suits me much better. As a kid, other kids would always ask me to draw tanks or dogs for them. After I graduated from high school I went on to study painting and drawing at the University of Utah. Then I worked as an illustrator for four years.” Palmer is also a skilled rock climber. Art and climbing help to quiet his mind that he said is usually going 1,000 miles an hour.
Palmer said he was the definition of a starving artist. “I was having a hard time making ends meet. My father-in-law at the time was a fireman. He told me about how he got to work four days on and three days off and I thought that would be a great way to still be able to pursue being an artist. Being a fireman did not work out for me, but through that I discovered nursing. Art was something I always had a natural knack for, but after I started nursing school I realized that was my life’s calling.” Palmer began his nursing career in the ICU, cardiac and trauma units. “I later interviewed to become a life flight nurse and to my surprise, I got the job! I have been a life flight rescue operator for 20 years now.” Life flight teams usually consist of three people – the Paramedic – who is lowered down to do the rescue, the Pilot – who operates the helicopter and the Rescue Operator – who hangs off the side of the helicopter to help direct the pilot safely to the person who was injured. “I am a Rescue Operator,” said Palmer. “My love of climbing factored into how I became a life flight nurse. It helped me to be qualified to be a
W E A R E C O M M U N I T Y … W E A R E DAV I S C O U N T Y
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