Ray Shefland - the flying anesthetist

Say “flying anesthetist” to most people and you’ll get a shake of the head and “What is that?” in response. Mention “the flying anesthetist” in Minnesota medical circles, however, and people say, “You mean Ray Shefland, he’s worked here.” A Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist, CRNA, since 1974 and licensed pilot for nearly as long, Shefland commutes from his home near Bemidji to work at Bigfork Valley and other rural hospitals in his own plane.

If you believe the story he tells on his company web site, Ray started down the road to becoming a nurse anesthetist because he needed to pay for his classes at Bemidji State University and couldn’t get a job pumping gas. His mother, a registered nurse herself, encouraged him to apply for a position at the hospital and before long he found himself wielding a mop in the operating room. While working the 3-11 p.m. shift Ray was occasionally permitted to watch procedures and found himself intrigued not by the surgeon, but by the “man at the head of the patient,” the anesthetist.

Pursuing his new found interest, Ray moved to Hibbing to attend nursing school, graduating in 1972. In 1974 he became the youngest person ever to graduate from the Minneapolis School of Anesthesia. The Bemidji hospital was fully staffed with anesthetists when Ray graduated so he returned to the operating room, this time without the mop, working as a registered nurse. With a shortage of nurse anesthetists that continues to this day, rural hospitals soon learned there was a new CRNA living near Bemidji and Ray found himself invited to work at Itasca Memorial Hospital in Grand Rapids. Getting his pilot’s license and buying a plane was a practical choice for someone who wanted to live near Bemidji while covering calls in distant towns.

Celeste Shefland, Ray’s wife of thirty-two years and another registered nurse in the family, says, “I’m not too sure about that gas pumping story, but I do know the anesthesiology and the flying have grown together all along.” Although piloting an airplane and administering anesthesia may seem worlds apart, according to Celeste they are quite similar. “Induction is like take off. Then you cruise along. Then waking the patient up is like landing the plane.”

Continuing the analogy, she explains, “Ray can’t just put someone to sleep and go take a coffee break. While the surgeon is working he has to constantly monitor the patient and respond if there is trouble. You don’t want the pilot away from the controls if there is turbulence.” Just as pilots monitor flight instruments and communicate with air traffic control, the anesthetist uses instruments to monitor the patient’s breathing, brain, heart, circulation, kidneys and other important bodily functions. He works with the surgeon to insure a pain free, successful operation, and to ease recovery.

The anesthetist’s job doesn’t begin in the operating room, however. Before surgery, a preoperative interview with the nurse anesthetist provides valuable information that helps determine patient care. There are several kinds of anesthesia and the one chosen is based on the patient’s physical condition, the nature of the surgery, and reactions to medication. The CRNA is integral to the post-operative recovery process as well. Celeste Shefland explains, “Anesthetists work to wake the patient up feeling as well as possible. They are very aware that the side effects of anesthesia can affect recovery. Over the years they’ve become much better at pain management and reducing side effects such as nausea.”

Caught between surgeries in Fosston, Minnesota, on a day when he would perform anesthesiology for five procedures, Ray Shefland was reluctant to talk about himself, deflecting questions to Celeste, saying “She’s been with me for 34 years and knows more about the business than I do.” The business Ray refers to is R.C. Shefland Anesthesia, LTD and it grew out of his ability to fly.

Just seven years after graduating from the Minneapolis School of Anesthesiology, Ray was flying regularly to Bigfork, Red Lake Falls, Fosston, Deer River, Karlstad and Grand Rapids. With the number of patients he needed to serve growing steadily, Ray incorporated and in 1983 hired Mike Smith, another CRNA, to take on some of the work. Today Shefland Anesthesia employs fourteen nurse anesthetists and regularly serves fifteen rural communities. Over the years Shefland Anesthesia has provided services to over thirty-five different communities in Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana and Nevada.