Prospective young healthcare professionals in training.
Eleven middle school students from the Piedmont Triad region and areas surrounding Charlotte, who participated in Winston-Salem State University’s (WSSU) School of Health Sciences’ summer Youth Exploring Health Sciences (Camp YEHS!) program, returned for a day of refresher activities. The goal was to keep the students interested in health care careers, even after the summer program ended.
On March 6, Baptist AirCare landed a medivac helicopter as part of the exercises to help students practice emergency and disaster medical treatment. The landing was made at the Regional Emergency Response and Recovery Center of Triad RAC, the headquarters of Triad SMAT II Team located at 942 South Main Street, Lexington, N.C.
Instructors guided students through a simulated medical disaster. The teens practiced CPR, splinting, bandaging and testing vital signs, as well as learning techniques on pig feet, intubation on mannequins and creating surgical airways- on pig tracheas.
WSSU’s Camp YEHS! is a two-week summer enrichment program for rising ninth-grade students from underrepresented populations. The program’s goal is to help boost the number of people of color, males, and other underrepresented groups entering tomorrow’s health-science careers. It is designed to educate, prepare and enhance their academic qualifications for careers in nursing and the health-science professions.
During the summer, the program includes a two-week residency on the WSSU campus and an opportunity to shadow a health care professional in their community. The program also includes guided career facilitation sessions and a post-mentorship experience. The free program is sponsored by a North Carolina GlaxoSmithKline Foundation grant.
The program is accepting applications for the summer of 2010 (July 11- 23) program. Applications deadline is March 31. For more information, please contact Program Director Marina A. Skinner, at (336) 750-3047 or skinnerma@wssu.edu.
Click here see more of the YEHS medical disaster training experience.
