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OGDEN — A medical flight crew based out of Ogden is making a name for itself as an all-female crew.
The crew flies 150 miles from the base in any direction. That means they cover:
- Utah: Weber, Box Elder, Morgan, Summit, Davis, Salt Lake and Wasatch counties
- Idaho: Oneida, Bear Lake and Franklin counties
- Wyoming: Lincoln and Uinta counties
Erica Rau, a flight paramedic, said they do have a name for the girl squad.
"We call it 'The Unmanned Aircraft.'"
The all-female crew includes a flight nurse, flight paramedic and pilot. Sunnie Barlow is a flight nurse aboard.
"An ICU in the sky," Barlow said. She said it is important others know they can enter this field.
"You see nurses all the time in the hospital, and you expect that, but up here in the sky like this, it's typically a male-dominated field," Barlow said.
Flying "The Unmanned Aircraft" has its perks. The crew said it carries ventilators and a wide range of medication. Because women typically weigh less than men, the difference allows them to bring on more patient weight and fuel.
"When I have two small people, I'm like, this thing is gonna be so fast. You know, I get kind of amped up," said Jennifer Prince, the pilot.
From there, it is just about letting their own superpowers take over.
"There's a lot of things we as women can bring to the table for these patients — you know, nurturing and compassion, that is bar none," Barlow said.
Proving there is more than one way to break the glass ceiling, this crew believes you can fly through it full throttle.
"It's small things that lead to big things in the future," Prince said.
