{"id":223323,"date":"2025-01-22T07:01:22","date_gmt":"2025-01-22T12:01:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?p=223323"},"modified":"2025-01-22T13:07:15","modified_gmt":"2025-01-22T18:07:15","slug":"on-a-mission","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2025\/01\/on-a-mission\/","title":{"rendered":"On a Mission"},"content":{"rendered":"

This story first appeared in the 2024 Dean’s Annual Report<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Patricia \u201cTricia\u201d Margarido, a 2019 graduate of UConn\u2019s Executive MBA program, leads a critical care team that takes care of patients in the most desperate, dire, and frightening moments of their lives.<\/p>\n

She and her colleagues at Hartford Hospital\u2019s LIFE STAR program treat patients 1,500 feet in the air, in the tight confines of a moving helicopter, assisted by equipment with the technological capacity found in an ICU. Their workspace is 11-by-5 feet, and their missions often take place in the darkness of night.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are many difficult days in this line of work. But when we\u2019re able to help save the life of a patient in crisis, this is the best job imaginable,\u201d says Margarido, who is the co-director of the LIFE STAR program with emergency medicine physician Dr. Lauri Bolton, and partners with Nurse Director Heather Standish. \u201cWe all have an inner drive, a love of our job, and an unrelenting desire to help others.\u201d<\/p>\n

The three-member team includes a nurse, a respiratory therapist or paramedic, and a pilot. On board, they have more than 50 different medications, blood products, ultrasound technology, a ventilator, a cardiac monitor, and IV infusions. The team is supported on the ground by aviation mechanics, communication specialists, and administrative professionals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe short time that we\u2019re together in the helicopter is very, very intense,\u201d Margarido says. \u201cMost of the time we\u2019re working without talking. We can anticipate each other\u2019s needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

LIFE STAR is staffed 24 hours a day, can transport patients who have suffered heart attacks, strokes, burns, and other traumatic injuries and illnesses, and is prepared to care for everyone from infants to the elderly. The program operates three helicopters, based in Meriden and Norwich, and Westfield, Massachusetts.<\/p>\n

\"Members
Members of the LIFE STAR crew gather on the thirteenth floor of Hartford Hospital prior to an emergency call. From left: Janet Diaz, senior administrative associate; Justin Pedneault, flight nurse\/paramedic; alumna Patricia Margarido ’19 EMBA, LIFE STAR Program Director; Brendon Colt, flight paramedic\/base lead; Bob Lynch, pilot and Adam Dawidczyk, flight nurse (Nathan Oldham \/ UConn School of Business Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Margarido recently spoke with the UConn School of Business about her job, the approximately 1,500 missions she has flown, and how her UConn Executive MBA degree helped her to become a stronger and more confident leader. Following are excerpts of the conversation.<\/p>\n

What are the most difficult missions? <\/strong><\/p>\n

The toughest calls are definitely those that involve children or teens. When you see the families of the injured, it is devastating. It is also hard to see people injured at work, like at a construction site or those who are injured traveling to work.<\/p>\n

But those calls are often also the most rewarding. Years ago, we had a child who had an intracranial head bleed and was unresponsive. We helped treat her and get her to the hospital and directly into surgery. She went home with no lingering injuries, with no functional deficits. If the whole system was not in place to care for her, the outcome could have been devastating.<\/p>\n

Why did you pursue this career? And is there, in your experience, a certain type of person drawn to this work? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I come from a family of health care professionals. I have a sister and a brother who are nurses, and another sister is a physical therapist. While I was completing my bachelor\u2019s degree at Boston College, I was working as a respiratory care practitioner at Tufts Medical Center. I met the LIFE STAR representatives at a respiratory care conference. I wasn\u2019t looking to change jobs at the time, but the opportunity was so unique that I couldn\u2019t pass it up. I came to Hartford to complete an observation shift with the crew shortly after 9\/11, and I was hooked.<\/p>\n

I think this position appeals to someone who is very caring, someone who wants to help others, and someone who is very autonomous. I think the members of our team are very courageous because this job has risks that aren\u2019t found in a traditional medical setting.<\/p>\n

We are very safety-focused, consider all factors before flight, and make an alternative plan to transport the patient, if necessary. We have sophisticated equipment, including night-vision goggles, helmets with microphones, and advanced terrain-awareness tools.<\/p>\n

We don\u2019t know anything about the injury of a patient until we\u2019re in the sky, so that the decision to fly is based purely on the weather and the team\u2019s safety and not influenced by the emotions of a patient\u2019s need.<\/p>\n

You were very experienced in your career when you enrolled in the UConn Executive MBA program. Why did you pursue the degree?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

My background was as a medical professional. Business was totally foreign to me. I became a manager, and I needed to lead teams, understand budgets, and learn \u201cthe business language\u201d that people were speaking.<\/p>\n

After earning my EMBA at UConn, I was more confident. I developed a better understanding of finance, leadership styles, synergy. I learned business acumen. Now I\u2019m confident pulling meetings together and leading well-prepared presentations. I feel like I\u2019ve earned my seat at the table. The EMBA program has had a lasting impact on my career.<\/p>\n

In the EMBA program, I enjoyed meeting a variety of leaders, people who worked in finance, tech, defense, and nonprofits. Those experiences were great. I also gained a global vantage point of the world during the EMBA trip to South Africa. Witnessing the depth of the poverty there was profound, and it left me thinking about how I could help at home. The trip will stay with me always.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Has this job changed your perspective or the way you live your life?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes, everyone on the LIFE STAR team agrees that you live differently, with a deeper appreciation for life, because of what we do. You see how everything can be gone in a moment.<\/p>\n

How do you cope with the stress of your job? <\/strong><\/p>\n

We rely on each other for support. There is always someone here who you can talk to when things go badly. And when we\u2019re off duty, we disconnect. For me, that\u2019s family time, trips to the beach, and bike rides.<\/p>\n

\"Patricia
(Nathan Oldham \/ UConn School of Business Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

How has your role changed in recent years? <\/strong><\/p>\n

I rarely go out on emergency calls now. Instead, I do a great deal of training with fire departments and other first responders to teach them about LIFE STAR early activation, utilization, safety, and communication. Our partner emergency responders are key to our success by knowing when to call for help and how to identify a safe landing zone. We typically complete more than 1,200 patient flights a year, and our team also conducts about 200 emergency transports via ground transportation.<\/p>\n

Are there any strange places you\u2019ve landed? <\/strong><\/p>\n

Cornfields are particularly tricky, especially moving the stretcher over them. But we\u2019ve landed on highways, in backyards, on mountaintops, in the woods, adjacent to a dam, and on several golf courses. Although we\u2019re mainly in Connecticut and Massachusetts, we\u2019ve flown over Fenway Park, over beaches on the Fourth of July, and to the Berkshires and Vermont. But when there is a patient on board, we are focused on providing patient care and always maintain situational awareness.<\/p>\n

Do you have LIFE STAR groupies? <\/strong><\/p>\n

We do. We have some LIFE STAR enthusiasts who track our flights, photograph the helicopter when it lands or takes off, and occasionally call asking for merchandise, like LIFE STAR helicopter pins and key chains. We value them and their support, as we share a respect for emergency response. We also have a very impressive following on LIFE STAR\u2019s Facebook page.<\/p>\n

Are there other moments that stay etched in your mind?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/p>\n

Some of our patients come back to thank the crew, and their comments are so heartfelt. Patients are grateful for the care they\u2019ve received, and equally thankful for their health. For me, that\u2019s the biggest reward for the hard work that we do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘We all have an inner drive, a love of our job, and an unrelenting desire to help others’<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121,"featured_media":223324,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_crdt_document":"","wds_primary_category":0,"wds_primary_series":0,"wds_primary_attribution":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[147,2193,156,1862,2235],"tags":[],"magazine-issues":[],"coauthors":[2105],"class_list":["post-223323","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-hartford-county","category-profile","category-busn","category-today-homepage"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","acf":[],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-21 13:58:03","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223323","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/users\/121"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=223323"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223323\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":223890,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/posts\/223323\/revisions\/223890"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media\/223324"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=223323"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=223323"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=223323"},{"taxonomy":"magazine-issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/magazine-issues?post=223323"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/wp-rest\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=223323"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}