Joan Sullivan Garrett

      One Life Lost,

    Millions Gained

   The Story of a Flight Nurse Turned MedAire CEO

Hello to family, friends, colleagues, readers, and journalists interested in my book!

My story is a roller coaster journey of a flight nurse turned CEO of MedAire, the world’s first global emergency response center. What began as a startup became a global phenomenon in remote emergency care and drastically improved the safety of passengers on air, land and sea.

You may not have heard of MedAire, but it is a traveler’s best friend — your safety net while up in the air or voyaging across the ocean. When you experience a medical emergency far from land, we are a call away, even at 36,000 feet — anywhere in the world.

My startup changed the travel industry forever, and more than 35 years later, MedAire is still the golden standard in providing medical kits, defibrillators, training, and telemedicine (aeromedicine) — a technological breakthrough that I pioneered in the 1980s.

I’m glad to connect with people outside these sectors who may be inspired by my entrepreneurial adventures in the U.S. and abroad, the challenges of single motherhood while traveling 280 days a year to promote my business, and how I overcame a difficult childhood. This autobiography also captures the journey of my Irish great-grandparents who made their way to America in the late 1800s. Thus, I’m third-generation Irish American and also a third-generation nurse, thanks to the legacy of my grandmother and mother.

Sneak Peek

Table of Contents

Forward
Introduction
Chapter One: The Boy
Chapter Two: My Bold Irish Roots
Chapter Three: A Sad Little Clan
Chapter Four: High School and a Turning Point
Chapter Five: A Mind of My Own
Chapter Six: Baptism by Fire
Chapter Seven: More Milestones
Chapter Eight: My Calling
Chapter Nine: Taking Flight
Chapter Ten: What If?
Chapter Eleven: Vision to Reality
Chapter Twelve: And Then Came Frank
Chapter Thirteen: Operation Warp Speed
Chapter Fourteen: Papers, Presentations and Persistence
Chapter Fifteen: At Sea
Chapter Sixteen: The Corporate Lens
Chapter Seventeen: The Lighter Side
Chapter Eighteen: Global Impact, Global Problems
Chapter Nineteen: Twist of Fate
Chapter Twenty: Paying It Forward
Chapter Twenty-one: Rewards Along the Way
Author’s Bio