- Hey, I'm Samantha Poirier.
I'm an EMS helicopter pilot,
the lead pilot here for Lifeline One
at Medical Center of the Rockies.
Come along with me for a day
to see what it's like to be a pilot.
(upbeat music)
We're gonna get a closer look at the H125,
and I'm even gonna take you along
to see what it's like from the sky.
Saving them on a bad day
usually their worst day of their life.
And you can be there to help them is why I do it.
Fire in the hole.
This is gonna be cool.
It's time to go behind the wings.
(blades whirring)
- I've only been in a helicopter once
so I can't wait for this. (Samantha chuckles)
Samantha Poirier is an emergency medical pilot
who has dedicated her life to saving others
but she hasn't always been an EMS pilot.
Samantha's sister had a life-changing experience
with a medical helicopter that ignited her passion
for aviation and helping others.
So to start off, what was your pathway to becoming a pilot?
- I was going to school
for air traffic control and my instructor said, "Hey
you should go do an intro flight
just to see what it's like to fly
instead of just controlling flying."
So I went and took my first intro flight and I was hooked.
I just figured I had to do whatever I could
to become a pilot at that point.
And the more I flew, the more I wanted to fly.
You can go to university for it, but really flight school
and getting your flight lessons is all on your own
which I just made my mind up
and I said I'm gonna just dedicate these years
of my life of what it's gonna take to do to become a pilot.
And not just a pilot, but a good pilot
and a pilot that people wanna hire
and people want to fly with.
- So what was that moment for you when you realized
first of all, this is something I can do medically
but also this is something that can really make an impact
on people's lives?
- What changed my motive from just being a pilot
to being an EMS pilot was my sister was actually
in a terrible accident back in 2016.
She was in a four-wheeler accident and this helicopter
and this crew actually transported her.
It was very pivotal for me
because I didn't really know how to thank somebody
for saving someone who loves life.
Words just don't have the weight or do it justice.
They were so easygoing about, "Hey, it's what we do."
But it changed my family's life.
It just inspired me and I just said I have to change
and switch and do whatever it takes to become an EMS pilot.
My first day that I transported a patient was
with Gary and Ryan who transported her in this helicopter.
- As we follow Samantha on her daily routine,
we'll see the intense focus and precision that goes
into providing critical care and in medical emergency.
So where are we and what happens here?
- So this is the ready room.
We're actually on the roof of the hospital
and it's the little room that's the closest
to the helipad where the helicopter sits on the roof.
And this is a room where we brief, we go over the weather,
the final details of the flight,
we grab any pertinent equipment,
anything that's essential for the flight,
and we grab our helmets, night vision goggles,
actually the blood from the med crew, any meds
and we head out to the helipad.
- All right. So we're here with the Airbus H125.
It actually holds the world record
for the highest altitude takeoff
in landing on Mount Everest.
That's pretty cool.
But it's also proved itself as a multi-mission helicopter
and that's part of the reason you all use it
for your emergency medical services.
So tell us a bit about what makes this aircraft so great
for the missions that you fly.
- What makes it the best is it's such a small footprint
with such high horsepower.
So it allows us to go
up into the mountains
and leave a really really small footprint
and still be able to do our missions
and be safe with the amount of horsepower that it has.
It's single engine, single pilot
and it's not IFR capable, but it doesn't need to be
'cause most of our clouds here in Colorado are icing in 'em.
So we don't need to have IFR capability.
But the fact that we can go land almost anywhere
in the mountains where trees are
is what makes it pretty special.
- Yeah, this thing looks so cool right here on the pad.
I can't wait to get up in the air, see what it's like to fly
and actually, you know, in a mission scenario.
But first let's take a walk around
and I'm noticing something weird on the skid.
- So these, these are called bear paws
and they're actually put on the back of the helicopter.
So it allows us to land in the snow.
So by putting these on, it widens a little bit
of the platform in the back of the skid.
If you ever see a helicopter with the bear paws on
in the snow,
it kind of like nose down with the tail up.
It just keeps it safer.
- That's so cool.
These are basically like snowshoes-
- Exactly. - for a helicopter.
- Exactly.
- That's pretty helpful in Colorado.
- Yep, definitely.
- All right, so these help it land,
but let's go take a look at the cockpit
- Absolutely.
So the coolest thing about this helicopter in my opinion
is the dual sliding doors it has.
So on both sides it has sliding doors
that makes it really easy for the med crew
to get in and out fast.
So with not having a door that's gonna spring open,
they're able to get in and out with the blade spinning
and not worry about it slamming shut, slamming open,
getting the hinges in the way.
It actually even locks.
So we can actually fly with it open up to 70 knots.
So it's very, very safe, very user friendly.
- Right. - One of the best features
about it that I like, and it's on both sides.
the best thing about this H125 is the avionics.
And what are the avionics?
It's basically all the glass that you see in front of me.
It's the brains of the computer, it's how much fuel we have,
the temperature, the torque, how much power you're pulling.
They're all digital
and they're all very, very high technology.
So the gauges on this helicopter are second to none,
make us and allow us to do our job to the best we can.
- Tell me a little bit about the medical equipment
and a bit about a typical mission.
- What's very important is being a team is everything
that goes on on the outside of here.
So this little wall keeps me separate from the patient
who actually will ride right next to me,
right here.
The nurse and medic sit in these two seats
and they rotate back and forth.
So there's no like assigned seats.
These are pumps that'll distribute medicine to them.
The one underneath it with the green tubing
that are connected,
that's the the vent that'll breathe for them.
On the back wall there, that gray one,
that's actually a blood warmer.
So we can give blood in flight actually
for a trauma patient. - Wow.
- And then the medicine, it's like a flying ICU room.
So when there's a lot going on, the med crew is amazing.
And the way that they know where everything's at,
everything has a place,
everything has a home (device beeping)
and it's fast, it's acting fast.
You can fill line one accepting.
- [Receiver] Copy line one got you accepting.
You're gonna be talking to red one on LC EMS.
- It's go time
- Whether it's an accident
on the highway or remote wilderness rescue,
Samantha and her team are always ready
to take off and respond to a call for help.
- Right. Fire in the hole.
- [Voice Over] In today's demo flight,
we'll simulate how we respond to fly
in emergency medical mission.
(lighthearted music)
- We are set to go.
All right. Coming up.
(helicopter blades whirring)
Once we take off, we head directly
to the weight points of the scene.
(lighthearted music)
There's a car accident, someone's trapped down there.
So I'm gonna be saying
as soon as this gets touched the ground,
you guys are good to get outside.
- When you think about how it can change someone's life,
what is at stake when you're flying?
- Yeah, it's everything.
You have life and death in your hands.
You're there, you and your team
and the helicopter and the conditions
for that day are the ones who have been chosen to be there,
like the crew was at the time for my sister,
like that's how I am now.
It's like they say thank you
and you just feel like it's what you have to do.
And that's our day-to-day life.
- We will go grab fuel at the airport.
- We just stopped and got fuel used to work here.
But you weren't a pilot at the time?
What was that like?
- I wasn't, no.
I sat behind the desk
and I watched all the planes and helicopters land
and I just would fien every time that I come here
and I land, it's just like a little piece of my heart.
I've been here, I've done the behind the desk.
I've fueled the planes.
Now I come here and I land and it's pretty cool.
- We've gotten our fuel.
Let's hop in, let's go back to the hospital.
Let's go.
(blades whirring) (engine roaring)
- [Samantha] Engine engaged is all good.
No lights on.
We have fuel.
All right, we're coming up.
- So you're also UC Health's first woman pilot.
How do you think about that
and why is seeing someone that looks like you important?
- When I sit back and I think about it,
it's not a big deal to me
because I am in a very male dominated industry.
I'm just doing the job of what I've always done.
Doesn't matter if I'm a girl or a boy,
I still fly the same helicopter,
I still take the same check ride.
So for me it's not a big deal
but it is a big deal because if it wasn't a big deal
why isn't there females that have done this before?
But I get a lot of young,
especially females who question me and who say,
"How did you get there and what was the hardest thing?
And what do you recommend?"
And I mean, I really, really try and take the time
to ride 'em all back because I was there once
with nobody to reach out to and nobody to guide me.
So the role model aspect is huge for me
which I believe in a lot.
- So I mean, you're flying the helicopter
and that's really cool, but you're also helping people
and in some ways that's even cooler
- Right. Definitely.
I mean, flying the helicopter is why I do this.
That's, it's my passion.
My passion is to fly.
But the fact that you can land, pick someone up,
help them change their life, is completely even better.
Combine that with aviation and it's the best job.
(bright music)
- Samantha, that was so cool.
Getting a behind the scenes look
at a day in the life of an EMS pilot.
Thank you so much.
- Of course, thank you.
And thank you for having me
and allowing me to share my story of what I do
with not only you, but everybody else who's gonna see this.
It's been great, but I gotta get back to work.
- All right.
- Now we couldn't cover everything
so leave your questions and comments under the video
and we'll get to as many as we can.
And if you want to get an up close look
at an EMS helicopter,
come check this out.
Along with over 70 aircraft
in this historic World War II era hangar,
you've made it to end of the video.
And if you subscribe, (button clicks)
thank you so much. (bell dings)
And if you don't subscribe, just subscribe already.
(bright music) (blades whirring)