Ready When It Matters Most: One Navy CRNA’s Story
For Commander Eric Sanchez, CRNA, DNP, a typical workday can mean walking into the OR at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth for a full day of cases. It can also mean standing watch on the flight deck of the USS George H.W. Bush as the only anesthesia provider for 5,000 sailors, ready to respond at a moment’s notice if something goes wrong. The contrast between those two realities defines what it means to be a Navy CRNA.
Sanchez began his nursing career as a civilian first. He wanted to be part of something larger than himself, and as the son of a service member, returning to the Navy felt like a homecoming.
From the start, Sanchez knew he wanted to become a CRNA. The road there, however, did not go as planned. Early assignments sent him to postpartum care rather than the ICU experience he needed. When he finally got the chance to move toward the ICU, he was told he wasn’t ready and was redirected to other areas of practice. After 14 years in the Navy, Eric found himself ready to walk away from the dream entirely.
It was Eric’s wife, Commander Diana Sanchez, also a Navy nurse, who refused to let him give up. When Eric finally made it into the ICU, he considered that the finish line, but Diana reminded him about his CRNA dream.
The turning point came during a deployment aboard a Navy hospital ship in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. From that ship, with Diana’s encouragement and help, Eric submitted his application to the Uniformed Services University. He was accepted and completed his ICU prerequisite in San Diego before beginning his CRNA training. Looking back, Eric credits Diana with believing in him when he didn’t believe in himself.
In many ways, Eric’s day-to-day work mirrors that of civilian CRNAs. But the role of a Navy CRNA extends well beyond hospital walls. Sanchez trained with an Expeditionary Resuscitative Surgical System (ERSS), a seven-person surgical team that includes an emergency physician, surgeon, CRNA, surgical technician, ICU nurse, and respiratory therapist. Through training with the Naval Expeditionary Medicine Training Institute and at LA General’s trauma center, Sanchez learned damage-control resuscitation and damage-control surgery, including stabilizing casualties at the point of injury so they can survive transport to a higher level of care.
His current assignment aboard an aircraft carrier brings a different level of engagement entirely: long stretches of standby readiness, with the need to respond instantly in a crisis.
In 2024, that mission readiness was put to the test. While serving aboard an amphibious warship, Sanchez was woken at 10:30 p.m. by his captain to respond to a potential mass injury event. Two LCAC hovercraft had collided at sea, resulting in more than 30 injuries.
Among the injured was a corpsman who had sustained a traumatic brain injury and was drifting in and out of consciousness. The ship was rocking, and a helicopter was repositioning for evacuation, but Sanchez needed to move quickly to place an IV in the patient’s neck to ensure the most effective treatment. Driven by his training and ability, Sanchez soon needed to place a second IV access point and then intubate the patient due to airway compromise.
Eric described his response in that moment and how, as a product of years of training, instinct took over. His training allowed him to function even when stress narrowed perceptions and focus. Afterward, the team conducted a debrief, identifying what went well and what could have been improved, a practice that is standard after any significant event.
Sanchez is clear that none of this works without teamwork, which requires vulnerability. He identified exercises that were more successful due to better communication. Eric’s team learned to acknowledge how they could operate better together and support one another when they needed it most.
Once licensed, Navy CRNAs practice independently, often as the sole anesthesia provider in a given setting. As Eric puts it when introducing himself aboard the ship, “I’m the anesthesia guy. There’s no one else.”
Eric’s advice to those considering this path is clear. It requires sacrifice, and providers must be ready to deliver anesthesia not only in hospitals but austere environments far from typical resources.
This year, Eric is deployed at sea for nine months. He and Diana have two young sons, and leaving them behind is the hardest part of the job. But for Eric, the chance to bring a sailor home safely to their family makes the sacrifice worth it.
