Students Get a Glimpse of Trauma in the Operating Room

There was a new addition to this year’s Take Your Kids to Work Day tour at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC). It proved to be a fan favourite of the nearly 65 students who came to find out what a career in healthcare is all about.

Along with touring the facility and participating in a variety of interactive activities throughout the Health Sciences Centre’s many departments, this year’s students were given an interactive tour of the Operating Room (OR), complete with hands-on experience dealing with a “pumpkin trauma”.

“This was the first year that students were actually allowed in the OR,” explains Dawn Korol, RN, CPNC Team Leader, TBRHSC. “Previously, the OR portion of the tour took place in a conference room. We wanted to give them a more engaging experience this year so I came up with the idea of a ‘pumpkin trauma’ knowing that it would be really in-depth and hands-on.”

As the students were being shown the OR and learning what all the equipment does, the doors flew open and nurses rushed in a simulated trauma patient where a pumpkin was used in place of the body and saw bones for legs. OR nurses took the student through all the stations of the ‘operation’, while providing hands-on instructions every step of the way.

“The OR tour was my favourite part of the day,” said Bella Gerolami, a 13 year old student who took part in the day’s activities. “It was really cool to learn how everything works and what the process is for a trauma in the OR. I was able to really imagine what it would be like with a real patient and the hands-on experience was really fun. This has helped me imagine what it would actually be like if I become a nurse one day.”

If you missed out on Take Your Kids to Work Day but are interested in learning more about TBRHSC, visit www.tbrhsc.net or find us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/TBRHSC/