AF nurse saves 2 lives, receives award

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Michael O'Connor
  • 31st Fighter Wing public affairs
AVIANO AIR BASE, Italy --  An Air Force clinical nurse here recently received a national civilian award for her nursing skills as a healthcare professional and her actions in saving two lives in 2007.

The official announcement of the 2008 Cherokee Inspired Comfort Award, Advanced Practice Nurse category, was made in September and Col. (Dr.) Patrick Storms, 31st Medical Group commander, presented Col. Roseanne Warner, 31st MDG deputy commander, with the award on behalf of Cherokee Uniforms during an informal luncheon here Oct. 31 in front of her colleagues, family and friends.

Between March and April 2007, Colonel Warner did what she says any other human being would do when someone needs medical attention; she came to their aide, intervened, and saved their lives.

"You know, we all do great things all the time, and I just say that anybody in the situations I was in would've done the same things, it just happened to be me," said Colonel Warner. "It was kind of like serendipity that I happened to be around when both of these people needed help. Personally, I just think it was something I should have done. I know that if I'm in trouble, somebody is going to come forward and help me."

THE FIRST SAVE
In March 2007, Colonel Warner was flying back overseas when the call went out to the passengers if there was a nurse or doctor on the plane. Despite being exhausted and half-asleep when the call for help went out, Colonel Warner, a nurse practitioner, responded and was brought to an elderly woman in need of diabetic medicine. The woman's older daughter had a glucometer that didn't work, and had forgotten to bring her mother's medication. The flight, en route to Europe was now too far over the Atlantic to turn back. Colonel Warner rallied the passengers and acquired a working glucometer, clean strips and needles, and insulin - insulin that she contributed her own money to buy from one of the passengers who insisted on being reimbursed. She then spent the remainder of the flight caring for this woman and educated her daughter on the disease.

"I felt so blessed that I had the skills to intervene," said Colonel Warner. "I'm so thankful and grateful to the passengers aboard the plane for providing me the tools I needed and for enabling me to help this woman."

THE SECOND SAVE
Just weeks later in April, Colonel Warner heard that one of her children's teachers was missing an important school trip due to ill health. Knowing how much the teacher had wanted to go, it being a Sunday and just her plain gut instinct as a nurse, she said she decided to call the teacher. Even though she had only talked briefly with the teacher prior to this event, Colonel Warner said the person did not sound right to her. When she hung up the phone, she said her instincts as a nurse kicked-in and she decided to find the teacher but did not know where the teacher lived. Upon her arrival in the neighborhood, she found the teacher very ill and incoherent and rushed the teacher to a hospital. She stayed at the emergency room so long that the ER staff thought she was a family member. The staff told her that if she had not called the teacher and taken the actions she did, the teacher would have died. The teacher was hospitalized nearly a month.

While caring for patients on a daily basis is just par for the course for Colonel Warner and others like her who serve in various healthcare professions, going the extra mile to ensure the well-being of a patient in need speaks volumes about the quality of caregivers who serve in the military and in the civilian sector.

"I have always said there is no higher calling than being a healthcare professional," said Colonel Warner, who got her start as a student nurse intern at a veteran's assistance hospital in Ashville, N.C., during her junior year of college in Cullowhee, N.C.

"I worked the night shift and the nurses who impressed me the most were all prior-military," said Colonel Warner. "I had never thought about joining until I met these nurses and began exploring a healthcare profession in the Air Force."

Married for more than 25 years to her high school sweetheart, Colonel Warner said caring for people is instantly rewarding, but that all of this would not be possible without the support of her husband Phil and their children.

"Phil and I have known each other forever," said Colonel Warner. "He understands me and is totally in this with me -- he's my soul mate. If I didn't have him and the children backing me, then I couldn't do this."

"Roseanne is an inspiration to so many nurses, not only in the military ... but also in civilian life as well," said Mr. Warner in the nomination package he wrote about his wife.

Mr. Warner said he initially went to Cherokee Uniforms Web site to buy his wife a new lab coat as a gift for her promotion to colonel. While on the site, he said he read about the award and decided to submit the accounts of his wife's actions.

The award Colonel Warner received is one of 10 given annually to candidates nominated for their exceptional service, sacrifice and innovation in one of five categories: Advanced Practice Nurse, Registered Nurse, Licensed Practical Nurse/Licensed Vocational Nurse, Student Nurse and Non-Physician Healthcare Professional.

"These 10 recipients illustrate why nurses and other healthcare professionals are so respected by the American public," said Michael Singer, president of Cherokee Uniforms in a press release. "The Cherokee Inspired Comfort Award was created to acknowledge the exemplary service of healthcare professionals who aim to improve the lives of others in significant ways and to encourage the nation's brightest students to enter the professions."