The 152nd Airlift Wing of the Nevada Air National Guard took a training flight, Tuesday. The 'High Rollers' flew over 15 hospitals in northern Nevada and California to show their gratitude to health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

"It's great to recognize these people and it's important to let them know that we're in this together as a community," Lt. Emerson Marcus, Public Affairs Officer for the 152nd Airlift Wing said. 

The three ship flyover included three C-130 aircraft. Along with thanking medical workers, it is also a way for the Air Guard to honor essential workers like grocery store employees and truck drivers.

"Just being able to get out there for an hour flight around northern Nevada and some parts of California to recognize and thank them in this way, it's just great," Marcus said. "Everyone's so excited to do this today."

The flyover gave hospital staff a brief break from their duties, including nurses from Renown's emergency room. They say COVID-19 adds some new challenges. They say one of their biggest fears is the unknown.

"Even though we know so much about what's going on, it's still really scary to not know what's coming through your front door," Jennifer Dado, Nurse Manager at the Renown Emergency Room said.

"It's hard seeing people that you know and work with getting sick or knowing that their loved ones are sick and knowing that at any moment, you could bring it home to your family," Ashley Lopez-Gonzalez, Registered Nurse at the Renown Emergency Room said.

Communities and hospitals have adjusted with the threat of the novel coronavirus, including some additional screenings in the ER. Nurses say it is important to keep the human element in patient care.

"It's so hard to be a patient right now when you're alone and confused and not feeling your best, surrounded by people who look like me with masks on," Cristina Bayne, Registered Nurse at the Renown Emergency Room said. "You can't even see their faces."

The ER staff has helped many COVID-19 patients. Some have minor symptoms and some are very severe. They say they appreciate the support of the community and the High Rollers.

"It's nice to see the support from the National Guard and just from our community in general," Dado said. "It's been so fabulous."

"That was pretty amazing," Lopez-Gonzalez said. "It's awesome to see the support from our community and even wider."

"It really is the most uplifting thing in all of this to know that there are just so many people coming together with this unified front to support everyone that's working so hard with what's going on in the world right now," Bayne said.

The hospitals that were included in the salute to COVID-19 first responders included Renown South, Carson Tahoe, Carson Valley, Barton Memorial, Incline Village, Tahoe Forest, St. Mary's, Renown Reno, the VA Medical Center in Reno, the University of Nevada, Northern Nevada Medical Center, Fernley, Fallon VA, Banner Churchill and Silver Springs.

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