Currently: 75°FList of December 2020 Graduates
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December Graduates
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Tuesday, September 15th, 2026
Millersville News
List of December 2020 Graduates
In March 2026 – with 27 years of healthcare experience that included 21 years as a registered nurse and 14 years as a flight nurse – Mike Fadale ’09 was named chief flight nurse aboard Penn State Health Life Lion Critical Care Transport.<br /> <br /> Fadale began his tenure with Life Lion as a part-time flight nurse – a specialized registered nurse who provides critical emergency care and life support to patients aboard helicopters during medical transport – in 2014 and then transitioned to full-time in 2017. “I have been at Life Lion full-time since then,” he says. “I interviewed for and took on the challenge of being chief flight nurse, which involves oversight of the nursing staff and quality management of the program.” <br /> <br /> His journey to his current role began at a young age. “I have loved helicopters since I was about 5 years old,” he says. “I grew up in the Lehigh Valley, and my mom knew one of the pilots at Lehigh Valley Health Network MedEvac. They took me to see the helicopter up close and gave me a MedEvac keychain with a house key on it. They told me it was a key to the helicopter. From there, I was obsessed and had a strong fascination for helicopters and aviation.” <br /> <br /> In high school, Fadale “leaned toward doing something medical.” He joined a healthcare explorer post at Lehigh Valley, and at 17, took a course to become an emergency medical technician. He worked or volunteered part-time as an EMT during high school and throughout his time at Millersville University. <br /> <br /> “I was able to interact with and help offload the MedEvac crews when they flew in,” as a support partner for Lehigh Valley. “As an EMT, I would occasionally have to call for a helicopter and always had amazing interactions with flight providers. They provided a sense of calm, had an enormous amount of autonomy, and always seemed to know what to do in some very chaotic situations. Seeing them in those moments was what made me want to work in flight medicine. Their level of skill, compassion and professionalism set the standard that I would strive for in my own practice. My goal was to start flying by the age of 30.” <br /> <br /> Read the rest of the story via the link in our profile.
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