H-M-S students attend career exploration event at NCC

The Health Science programs at Northwest Iowa Community College in Sheldon hosted over 30 students from Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn, Rock Valley and Trinity Christian high schools on Nov. 16 to explore the career fields of EMS, nursing, radiologic technology, pharmacy technology, medical lab technology, heath information technology and medical coding.

The day consisted of mini-sessions in which each program instructor explained their respective career field and NCC's program. Students then watched an emergency care simulation performed by NCC healthcare instructors and the Sheldon Community Ambulance Team in which all of the healthcare programs worked together for a common goal of saving the patient, just like in a real emergency situation.

The simulation was an emergency trauma scenario in which a person was involved in a vehicle accident because of texting and driving. It began with SCAT arriving at the accident scene with lights flashing and sirens blaring. They assessed the "car accident patient" and brought the victim into the college from the simulated accident scene.

Once inside the emergency room (NCC Health lab) the instructors took over the simulation using state-of-the-art manikin simulation technology to play the role of the patient. After being diagnosed with injuries and stabilized, the last step of the simulation was to prepare the patient for transport to a regional hospital by air.

"It is a really cool day. We received a lot of great information," said Gregory Collins, a junior at H-M-S. "I am really here for the career exploration. I wanted to see real-life skills and this day delivered. I want the career to fit me as a person and I want a stable job where I don't have to struggle with a paycheck. I want to really like my job – wake up in the morning and enjoy going to work."

Collins said the emergency simulation was an eye-opening experience.

"It seems like chaos, but everyone had a job and stuck to it. I can't believe how calm they stayed," he said. "This was very beneficial. It gave me a new perspective and a lot of respect for what medical professionals go through."

Margeaux Baskin, life science teacher at H-M-S, brought 23 students from her anatomy class.

"I thought the day was really nice. It gave students the hands-on learning experience that they enjoy. It also fit really well with what we are learning in class," said Baskin. "I think it will peak some interest in the health science career field."

As the day wrapped up Kevin Miller, NCC Emergency Services Education Coordinator, and Kim Karhoff, Director of Nursing Education, answered student questions and spoke to them about the importance of teamwork in a healthcare setting.

"It is so important for students to see the importance of teamwork in the healthcare fields," Karhoff said. "It was fun to see the students interact with the Simulation manikins in the nursing lab as they used stethoscopes to check heart rates and compare heart rates among our newborn, pediatric and adult manikins."