Unique career fulfills local man's dream

For all his adult life, Chris Foster has been in the business of helping others.

Foster, an Essex native now living in Dexter, served four years in the Air Force after graduating from Richland High School. His military training was as a heavy equipment operator.

"I always loved to fly, and I wanted to see the world," he smiles, "so at 19 I joined up, but all I got to see was Scott Air Force Base in St. Louis."

Once discharged, Foster enrolled in the Police Academy at Southeast Missouri State University in Cape Girardeau. He served for a brief period on the Bloomfield Police Department and then on Dexter's force. While he values the time spent in law enforcement, his heart had always been in the medical field.

"I always loved medicine," he explains. "I just never had the means to venture into it."

But at 30 years old with a career in law enforcement well underway, Foster made the decision to retire his badge and go back to school. He completed his Licensed Practical Nursing (LPN) degree in 2002 and bridged right over to a registered nursing program, graduating as an RN in 2004.

"My parents helped me out a lot during that time -- even giving me a 1993 Chrysler Concord to drive back and forth to school. Wish I still had it," he laughs.

Foster worked in an emergency room setting for three years when one day while off duty, he encountered an individual from Air Evac as she was selling membership to a local business.

With his lifetime love of flying and his background in nursing, the conversation led to the possibility of employment with Air Evac, which has 115 bases across 16 states. When the woman learned Foster's name, she informed him that his name had been mentioned as a possible candidate for employment just days before. He applied for a position, and was hired immediately.

"I had been an RN for exactly three years on the day I was hired," he recalls.

The life of a flight nurse is not for everyone. Although 10 working days a month might sound like a dream job, those days are 24-hour shifts.

"We're in our flight suits, ready to go at any minute," Foster explains.

Foster first worked at the Sikeston base. After a time, he was offered a position in the Cardiac Cath Lab at a Poplar Bluff hospital, and took the job.

"But I really missed Air Evac," he recalls. "I loved the excitement of flying and I loved caring for the patients.

He was drawn back into the field, returning to Air Evac, but this time at the Poplar Bluff base. The Air Evac units there are housed at the airport.

"We can be in the air and in Dexter within moments when we get a call," Foster attests.

Many of the calls for an Air Evac unit involve traffic accidents, but the service also provided numerous transfer flights -- picking up patients in a hospital setting and delivering them to an alternate medical facility.

"We fly all over," Foster says. "We take quite a few patients to Chicago. We take some to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. We make a lot of trips to Memphis, to Little Rock, Springfield and of course, to Cape Girardeau."

The crew on an Air Evac unit consists of three professionals --the pilot, a nurse, and a medic.

"The combination works well," explains Foster. "The medics are used to being on accident scenes and they're accustomed to the emergency situations that we see all the time. The nurses are familiar with hospital procedures and patient care, implementing the IV lines and the drips. When those skills are combined, it makes for a great team."

One Air Evac unit is capable of carrying one patient. Foster says they've carried newborn babies, maternity patients, wreck victims, cancer patient transfers and more. Surprising to many is the fact that Air Evac flights are not always made in helicopters. A twin-engine King Air plane is also at their disposal. The distance of the flight, Foster explains, is the determining factor as to whether the helicopter or the plane are utilized.

"We're the only blended base in Air Evac that has both aircraft and we are proud to represent our area with these capabilities."

Spending time in the air and practicing his nursing skills places Chris Foster as one of those fortunate individuals who combines his love of flying and medicine in a career that he loves. Still, there are days that are trying, especially those flights that involve traffic accidents.

"The most difficult are the kids," he says somberly. "That's always tough."

One of the jobs of Foster and another crew member, Paramedic Amy Keirsa, is to serve as a listening post when fellow crew members have a particularly challenging flight.

"They can call us and talk if it's been a difficult situation. That's part of our job. Sometimes they just need to talk it out, and when they do, we're there for them."

Foster says he's fortunate to never have been on a flight compromised by inclement weather.

"Our pilots are excellent," he says, "and we check out the weather as soon as we get a call to make sure we're in the clear. Safety is always first. If we see a sign of bad weather coming in, we don't move."

He has moved plenty, though. On Aug. 21, 2013, he was awarded new "wings" for having completed his 500th flight.

Even with 500 flights under his belt, Chris Foster finds time to work when needed for the Stoddard County Ambulance District, often on a voluntary basis as a first responder.

"It's a rewarding thing to do," he says. "The folks there are awesome at helping us out, so I help them out when I can. It's an honor."

When not in the air or on call with Air Evac, he and key crew members also spend time on the job teaching life-saving techniques at Three Rivers College and to emergency responders in the area.

Still, his time in the air while delivering care to those in need, is his first love. At 40 years old, he is content.

"Being a flight nurse for Air Evac has been my dream job and to this day is still my dream job," he says.