Portuguese Paratroop Nurses

During her course, she made contact with Paratroop Nurses of the French Red Cross, that encouraged her to take the idea to Portugal.

Lieutenant-Colonel Kaúlza de Arriaga, then sub-State Secretary of Aeronautics, supported Rivas' idea and started to explore the possibilities of its integration in the Armed Forces.

By order of Kaúlza de Arriaga, the 1st Parachuting Course for Nurses began in 1961, in the Tancos Military Airfield, where the Rapid Reaction Brigade was quartered.

There are several reports of dying soldiers that saw in them (the Nurses) a maternal image, calling them Mãe (the Portuguese word for mother).

In August 2007, The History Channel showed a documentary dedicated to these women, entitled "Entre o Céu e o Inferno – As Enfermeiras Pára-quedistas" (Between Heaven and Hell – The Portuguese Paratroop Nurses).