Women’s History Month: Reaching for the sky with a Michiana MedFlight nurse

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (WNDU) - As we continue to mark Women’s History Month, we would be remiss if we didn’t talk about the great strides women are making in healthcare.

Women have ascended to key roles and are leading their teams to make a difference in the community.

Today, we’re talking about a woman who wears many hats when it comes to critical care. Her name is Erin Pearish — a nurse for both Memorial MedFlight and the intensive care unit.

We had the pleasure of meeting her and hearing about her journey in healthcare.

Pearish is from a family of teachers, although she knew that she wanted to pursue something very different than education.

As a MedFlight critical care nurse, she lives for the rush of being up on her feet every day.

“I love the adrenaline rush,” Pearish says. “You never know what you’re going to get into, and I think that’s why I’m in critical care.”

Pearish has been a part-time critical care nurse for Memorial MedFlight for six years now. But she’s not the only Pearish family member working on the MedFlight helicopter.

Her brother is a medic for MedFlight. They get the unique opportunity of getting sent out to save lives together.

“Getting to work alongside my brother, I’m sure my mom and dad are extremely proud of us. But I love that it’s him and I, and we can get in the aircraft and go do absolutely whatever and go make a difference together. I don’t think many people get that opportunity,” Pearish says.

But her journey in healthcare didn’t start on the chopper. She discovered her passion for critical care while working towards her bachelor’s degree in nursing at IU South Bend.

“Luckily for me, I did a clinical rotation during my senior year in college,” Pearish recalls. “It was with a director in the ICU, actually for management kind of things, and she offered me a job out of college. So, I’ve been working at the adult ICU at Memorial ever since 2003.”

Working in the intensive care unit means long hours. Typically, 12-hour shifts.

Pearish starts her day at 5 a.m. and doesn’t get home until 8 p.m., putting in six miles of walking on an average day.

But MedFlight on the other hand, is a different story.

“MedFlight is a little bit different. Here, we’re always ready to go,” Pearish says. “We’re usually not doing anything until we’re needed, but when we’re needed, we react very quickly. Our dispatch will dispatch us, and usually within 10 minutes we’re loaded up in the aircraft and taking off for a scene flight, or an inter facility transport of some sort.”

She loves her role in taking care of patients.

“I love being in the role that I am because of the patients. They are what drive us every day,” Pearish says. “You go in and you make a difference, and you know it’s not always rewarding, but that’s every job. But a lot of times, it is rewarding you get to see those patients improve and transfer out of the unit.”

Pearish feels that the critical care unit is meant for her.

“That’s kind of where I’m at right now,” Pearish says. “I have many years yet to go. I feel like critical care is where I’ll always be until I retire. Which like I said, I still have quite a bit of time.”