Nurses Week Highlight #6

Lt. Col. Randy Viray, Ansbach Army Health Clinic chief nurse, has served in the U.S. Army for 17 years. The Tacoma, Washington native comes from a long line of service members. He joined the Army as a nurse, and always knew he wanted to go into the medical field. “Nursing was the most flexible profession when I looked at all the programs and what I could do within the field,” he said. His most rewarding experience as an Army Nurse, was when he deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. Viray was an en route critical care nurse so he completed intertheater flights, flying Category A patients. “Cat A is a category of patient that was the most severely injured patients,” he said. “These are all intubated, trauma, gun shot wounds, [improvised explosive devise blast injuries].” He went on over 100 Category A transfers, with each transfer carrying three patients. Patients would be transferred to Kandahar … “with that, I covered 25,000 square miles.” His mission now, specifically as a senior leader, is to build a resilient force and increase morale. “Just doing this is very difficult especially in times like now where doctors and nurses are working more hours than they are used to, and they have to be a lot more flexible with our mission and operation.” Viray enjoys good food, traveling, hunting and fishing.

Pictured: Viray explains how an Electrocardiogram (EKG or ECG) machine works. EKG machines measures the electrical activity of the heartbeat.