WINGS OF
AN ANGEL
Flight for Life nurse shows
unwavering determination
Written by SHARON ALMIRALL
Photography by KIT WILLIAMS
Delivering a baby in Ecuador at a moment’s notice
is but one of many surprisingly bold volunteer
tasks Hollie Seeley has performed. A Flight for Life
Colorado registered nurse, Seeley works in a profession
that demands precise skills and an ability to react
calmly under pressure. She exemplifies all-out, over-the-top
energy in both her professional and personal life.
Seeley throws herself into whatever comes before her
with the gusto of someone who is both physically and psychologically
fit. Her eight years aboard Flight for Life have
exceeded the typical tenure of a flight nurse. When she was
bound for medical school several years ago, a friend recommended
she apply for an opening on the Flight for Life team.
She recalls, “It was April and I was planning to start medical
school in August and planning to take one of two offers that
had been presented to me. Then Flight for Life called, and I
had to admit that it was something to think about.”
Seeley had worked as both a nursing assistant and a registered
nurse at St. Joseph Hospital in Dayton, Ohio, and later
in the emergency department at St. Joseph Hospital in
Denver before taking the Flight for Life position. She received
an Award of Excellence from St. Joseph Hospital and was
named Employee of the Month at the Children’s Hospital
Emergency Department in Denver.
According to its Web site, Flight for Life began in 1972 with
a single Alouette III helicopter based at St. Anthony Central
Hospital in Denver. It is reportedly the first hospital-based
medical helicopter program in the United States. From its
humble beginnings, it has grown to be a regional program
responding to nine states.
Working 12-hour shifts, Seeley is typically on the job by
6:30 a.m. Based out of St. Anthony Central, Flight for Life
works in emergency care, trauma care and other areas. It is
the only not-for-profit air medical program in the state.
Flight for Life operates four helicopters as well as an airplane
and an ambulance. When Seeley is on the airplane,
she is located at Centennial Airport; when she does a 24-hour shift on the helicopter out of Summit Medical Center,
she is based in Frisco.
Seeley has accrued many achievements with Flight for Life,
including being named the founder of Family Appreciation Day
and co-founding the Heart & Soul Committee.
As flight nurses, Seeley and her colleagues are trained in
a wide range of skills, and they apply this expertise to their
patients. She plans to do flight nursing for 10 years, considering
it the pinnacle of nursing.
The flight nurses at Flight for Life Colorado are registered
nurses specializing in emergency and critical care and pre-hospital management. In addition to meeting requirements
for standard certifications, Flight for Life nurses undergo
intensive training to enhance their assessment skills and
develop a wide range of invasive skills. They have the skill
and technology available to provide and maintain a hospital
level of care throughout the transport.
A marathon runner, Seeley also participated in high school
and college athletics. In college, she coached freshman softball
and played basketball and softball. Now she teaches
some friends how to golf and others how to run marathons. “I had a friend who had just given birth to twins, and she didn’t
think she’d ever be able to run a marathon. We trained,
and she ran the New York City Marathon. To see her face at
the end of the race was so neat,” she says.
Seeley enjoys watching marathons. “I like to see all the
shapes and sizes and personalities. It’s fun to run, and all you
need is [a pair of] shoes. My parents ran, and so did my brother
and I. My mom organized the Columbine Classic that was held
in Washington Park. My mom and I ran a 5K together in Ohio.
She came in second, and I came in third. Running backward,
every once in a while she would turn around and yell, ‘Come
on!’ She has been a real role model for me,” says Seeley.
Seeley has turned the example of role modeling she
received from her mother into role modeling for students.
She was nominated a Member Athlete of the Year by the
Denver Athletic Club and includes among her marathon finishes
an impressive list, including the Boston Marathon, New
York City Marathon, Marine Corps Marathon and Chicago
Marathon. “I didn’t realize how much my parents encouraged
me until I met other people who hadn’t had that. My parents
were always saying ‘you can do it,’” she recalls.
Years before becoming a flight nurse, Seeley received an
appointment to the United States Air Force Academy. She
says she “grew up a lot at the academy,” an educational
experience that was both intense and prestigious. She
attended the Air Force Academy prep school for one year and
the academy for half a year. She studied math and science all
day, then traveled to the academy to play basketball. “It
teaches you there is more to life than yourself. You grow up
quickly,” she comments. While Seeley was recruited to play
basketball at the Air Force Academy, she also started to play
golf there, one of eight team members.
When Seeley left the Air Force Academy, she started looking
into schools in the Boston area. The basketball coach for Salem
State College outside of Boston called her. She attended Salem
State and played basketball and volleyball for well over a year
before she married and moved to Dayton, Ohio. While in
Dayton, she finished her nursing degree at Wright State.
Her interest in nursing began in high school when a neighboring
family’s daughter was diagnosed with leukemia.
Seeley baby-sat the child and felt a deep compassion when
the youngster was leaving surgery: “I could see how she was
relating to the nurse, and I really began to think about nursing.”
Today, Seeley realizes the nurse/patient relationship is
unique and can be a learning experience for both people. “Sometimes we learn from our patients,” she comments.
In her mid-20’s, Seeley traveled with her cousin to
Ecuador, where they volunteered in a hospital. They assisted
in surgery and actually delivered a baby.
Recalling the mission she undertook, Seeley sa
ys, “We
spent four weeks in Archidona, Ecuador. At the time I
worked as an Emergency Department nurse at St. Joseph
Hospital. One of the employees was from Ecuador and was
very involved with the clinic in Archidona. The clinic was run
by the Sisters of Charity. I wanted to learn more about Third
World medicine and also volunteer at the same time, which
was the purpose of the trip. My cousin decided to join me at
the last minute instead of starting college.
“I was already a nurse, but after this trip I realized I was
hungry to learn more. We had been in the clinic only a few
days and were not really familiar with the staff or the supplies.
We had been involved all morning with a woman who
was in labor. Her previous child was 8, and she was older,
which was unusual for the area. It was after lunch, and all of
the staff went to take a siesta, so my cousin and I decided to
check on her progress. When we walked into the room, we
could hear her breathing heavily, and when we came closer,
I recognized quickly that she was going to deliver very soon.
I knew we didn't have time to get help, so we did our best to
find the supplies we would need as quickly as possible. I was
