Thursday, August 13, 2009
Teens explore health careers
Carilion Clinic's Heart Camp lets students explore careers in the health care industry.
Jared Soares | The Roanoke Times
Michelle Hedrick (from left), Rebecca Di Marco, Kaitlin Pennington and Laura Kate Jennings learn how to take blood pressure readings during Carilion Clinic's Heart Camp.
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An instructor counts one, two, three ... 30, but this is not your common summer camp with children running, doing push-ups or sit-ups.
At Carilion Clinic Heart Camp, 12 rising eighth- and ninth-graders pressed the chest of "Rescue Anne" while they learned how to perform CPR.
"It's really fun, but it's really educational," said Allee Cox, a rising ninth-grader at Hidden Valley High School in Roanoke County.
The camp ran Aug. 3-5 and taught teens different health care procedures such as intubation, emergency response and catheterization.
The program meets two purposes, said camp coordinator Jennifer Underwood. It explores different career paths within the health care industry to spark an interest in them.
"When they get to high school, they know what kind of sub classes they need," Underwood said of the participants.
Students can then better prepare their necessary course work for high school and begin planning for college.
Teaching the children proper CPR techniques, the signs and symptoms of a heart attack and the emergency response process also indirectly helps families in the region to be prepared to handle accidents in which urgent care is needed, Underwood said.
"It's a great learning experience," said Eliza Gaylord, a rising ninth-grader at Cave Spring High School. "It might come in handy."
Students were highly engaged in the activities, including one in which they followed paramedics who were dispatched to a house to treat a patient suffering from a heart attack.
They also got to visit the rooftop helipad at Carilion Roanoke Memorial Hospital.
"We try to keep it as educational and entertaining as we can," Underwood said.
The teenagers also showed interest in knowing the length and cost of pursuing health care careers, she said.
Sarah Smith, a rising ninth-grader at Cave Spring, is hoping to pursue a medical career.
"It's a good way to do what I'd like to do and help people," she said.
Sarah enjoyed learning how to perform CPR and watching X-rays of people's hearts at the cath lab.
