Jonathan Godfrey

From 200 feet and speeds of more than 140 miles per hour, a medivac helicopter slammed into the ice-cold waters of the Potomac River the night of January 10, 2005, leaving only one survivor, Jonathan Godfrey.

The impact propelled Godfrey to make waves of change in the medical transport industry, and ripples that will continue to carry a message of resilience and what it is like to go from trauma nurse to a trauma patient.

Godfrey became a well-known advocate for safety and continued his work as a critical-care transport nurse — and worked previously as the safety coordinator — at Children’s National Health System in Washington, D.C.

For more than 12 years, Godfrey has presented his story to audiences all over the U.S. and abroad highlighting safety culture, crash prevention, survivability, and resiliency touching on other education to keep transport and medical professionals’ perspectives fresh and hearts vigilant.

Godfrey has served on many boards and committees over the years since then and is currently a director on the board of the National EMS Memorial Service.

He is involved in many other projects such as Survivor’s Network, Vision Zero, Digital Safety Stories, and U.S. Helicopter safety team.

His efforts have afforded him honors receiving the Jim Charlson Award, AAMS President’s award, and the Vision Zero Award.

In early 2017, Godfrey co-authored the book Max Impact: A Story of Survival with journalist MJ Brickey.