Gain Insight into Emergency Department and ThedaStar
Students in the Biomedical Innovations class at New London High School got an inside look at the emergency department and at ThedaStar while visiting ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Neenah.
“This tour encouraged me to continue on my journey to becoming part of the health field,” said Bree Barrington, a senior who wants to be a cardiologist.
This is the second year students participated in the tour. “The reason for this trip was for students to learn about different careers in medicine and to learn about emergency medicine and how an emergency department is arranged and functions,” said Jennifer Doran, PTLW (Project Lead The Way) biomedical sciences teacher. “This is an incredible opportunity to see for themselves a medical setting and talk with real professionals in the field.”
As part of their class, students are asked to design an emergency department. The tour of the ThedaCare Neenah emergency department gave them insight for the project.
Emergency department nurse supervisor Audrey James explained to the students the pieces of equipment housed in a trauma room, Doran said. “She explained what they are used for and which medical professional is in charge of each one,” she added. “She then let a few of the students don some of the personal protective equipment that ER personnel must wear.”
Another part of the student’s assignment in the classroom was to triage 16 patients to determine what their medical needs were, Doran said. “The students had to decide if they were emergent, urgent or non-urgent,” she said.
James explained to students about how triage works in the emergency department and how communication skills are so important in the medical field.
ThedaStar flight nurse Jeff Grimm also talked about treating patients out in the field. “He provided scenarios for the students and involved them by asking them what injuries the people in the scenario would have sustained as a result of the accident,” Doran said.
Doran said the tour was beneficial to the students, all who plan on obtaining careers in the medical field. Hunter Gorges would like to be an athletic trainer; Meckenzi Wolfgram would like to be a dentist; Melany Gerhartz would like to go into radiology and Haley Lewallen would like to be a nurse.
“The tour was incredibly inspirational and gave us a real insight to the health field and its bustling atmosphere,” Lewallen, a senior, said. “It definitely reaffirmed our thoughts on what we wanted to pursue as careers, and how excited we are for our futures in health care.”
The Biomedical Innovations class is the fourth class in the Project Lead The Way Biomedical Science Program. Each student has taken, or is enrolled in, the other three courses that are part of the program: Principles of Biomedical Science, Human Body Systems and Medical Interventions. New London High School is in its seventh year of offering the Biomedical Science Program.
For more than 100 years, ThedaCare™ has been committed to finding a better way to deliver serious and complex healthcare to patients throughout Northeast Wisconsin. The organization serves over 200,000 patients annually and employs more than 6,700 healthcare professionals throughout the region. ThedaCare has seven hospitals located in Appleton, Neenah, Berlin, Waupaca, Shawano, New London and Wild Rose as well as 32 clinics in nine counties. ThedaCare is the first in Wisconsin to be a Mayo Clinic Care Network Member, giving our specialists the ability to consult with Mayo Clinic experts on a patient’s care. ThedaCare is a non-profit healthcare organization with a level II trauma center, comprehensive cancer treatment, stroke and cardiac programs as well as a foundation dedicated to community service. For more information, visit www.thedacare.org or follow ThedaCare on Facebook and Twitter.
