Why are we doing this? Why are we doing this? The nurse said over and over in her mind as she looked at her watch. She had been stationed outside the tent hospital as the hours crawled by, waiting until Daniel stabilized so they could transport him to the Army hospital in Baghdad. We could be working with someone else that has a better chance of survival, she thought.
At last, he was ready to be moved. Her time had come, and she sprang into action. Another nurse volunteered to join her for the journey even though it wasn’t her turn, and they took off into the sky with Daniel’s life now in their hands.
Not long after, the helicopter came under attack. The aircraft shook and jerked away from enemy fire while the two nurses did what they could to keep Daniel as stable as possible. The ventilator that was doing Daniel’s breathing for him stopped working, so one nurse had to hand-ventilate him while the other continued to administer his medicine. I’m not sure what they were giving him, but I know he needed it. Without that second set of hands from the nurse who volunteered, Daniel’s life would have been snuffed out in transit.
“I don’t feel a pulse,” said one nurse, looking up at the other. “Do you?” Neither of them could find it. The helicopter continued to rock violently, the roar of the rotors making it difficult to hear. They really didn’t know if he was alive.
I can’t believe the nurses didn’t give up; I truly can’t. But they just kept performing their duties as if he were alive one hand-ventilating him and the other giving him the medicine because they couldn’t be sure.
Finally, they landed at the hospital in Baghdad. When they turned him over to the Army, the nurse said, “We have worked very hard. Please, you need to understand what we’ve put into this man. Now it’s your turn,” and handed him into their care.
Lord, help me always do my job to the best of my ability, even if I can’t be sure of the outcome.
“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” (Colossians 3:23)