This is the accumulation of many stories spanning nearly two decades of one person's career on an air medical helicopter based at a Northern California trauma center. A career that starts with being a paramedic student when only a few counties in California even had paramedics. Working on an ambulance then joining the helicopter crew as a flight paramedic and eventually on to becoming a flight nurse. Watching and learning the growth of the helicopter as an air ambulance from the early days of seat-of-your-pants flying to the acceptance of national standards in air medical safety. From practical joking to literally holding someone's heart in his hands, the author takes you on a whirlwind journey of the fast paced world of helicopter and emergency department medicine. Near-death experiences, saving lives that shouldn't have been savable, and the agony of holding someone in your arms as they slowly slip away.