Alyssa Sunkin
Sam Tenney / The Citizen
Emily Robinson, 13, third from left, practices performing an intubation with the help of Danielle Leach, 15, flight nurse Jessica Falk, and Aikena Abdyldaeva, 13. Eighth- and ninth-grade students were part of a two-day camp at Auburn Memorial Hospital that provided an introduction to careers in the medical field through interactive lectures.
The Citizen
AUBURN - Auryana DeChick performed her first medical, life-saving procedure last week at the ripe old age of 14.
With the assistance of a metal scope called a laryngoscope, DeChick successfully guided a plastic tube down the throat of an adult dummy representing an incapacitated patient as a way to protect his airway and provide a means for mechanical breathing.
No, DeChick is not a registered nurse, paramedic, doctor or any type of health-care professional. She is just 14 and a rising high school freshman, and yet accomplished a mock intubation, an invasive procedure that typically requires a lot of clinical experience to master.
For that she can credit the Medical Academy of Science and Health Camp, a program that she and 19 other teenagers from the Finger Lakes region attended July 8 and 9 at Auburn Memorial Hospital.
Sponsored by AMH, the Central New York Area Health Education Center and Excellus BlueCross Blue Shield, M.A.S.H Camp, now in its fourth year, provided a group of junior high and high school students the opportunity to get a hands-on look at the world of health care.
Campers were exposed to the ins and outs of different professions within the health-care field, from laboratory technicians and certified nurse assistants to physicians and physical therapists.
It was in a session of the “Who, What Where and Why of the Critical Care Air Ambulance” workshop that DeChick and nine of her fellow campers intubated adult and baby dummies.
“Look at this!” workshop instructor and Mercy Flight Central Flight Nurse Jessica Falk said to DeChick as latex gloves affixed to the abdomen of the adult mannequin inflated and deflated with each squeeze of the Ambu bag. “You saved his life!”
AMH established M.A.S.H Camp four years ago as a way to proactively deal with a shortage of hands in the health-care field throughout central New York, Director of Volunteer Services Judy Santillo said. Rather than sit idly by as positions remain vacant in area hospitals, AMH began targeting teenagers and introducing them to the jobs health care offers.
“We are reaching out to our young people to show them what it would be like to work in health care,” she said. “We are getting their minds thinking that this could be a possibility when they graduate college.”
Campers traveled throughout the, learning about everything including respiratory care, radiology and mental health. For several of the participants, the experience augmented and reaffirmed what they want to do when they get older.
“It showed me other areas I can do in the field of health care,” Jessica Miller, 14, of Weedsport said. “I still want to be a pediatric nurse because it's really the most interesting to me.”
Miller knew she wanted to be a pediatric nurse before she went to the camp, but realized that is exactly what she wants to do after seeing a newborn baby and getting a tour of the maternity wing last week.
For Luke Wilczek, 13, of Auburn, health care is the family business as his mother is in the field and works at the hospital. But even though he was first exposed to health care when he was young, he received an eye-opening experience at camp, during which he realized he absolutely wanted to be an opthamologist.
“You can actually see the doctor of pediatrician in their actual working environment and see what they do,” he said of the camp.
The world may also see a new surgeon or pediatrician if Felicia Sciortino gets her way.
“I just want to help people,” said the 13-year-old from Fleming, “and I think if I help people with medicine it can help them be more healthy or live longer.”
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
AUBURN - Auryana DeChick performed her first medical, life-saving procedure last week at the ripe old age of 14.
With the assistance of a metal scope called a laryngoscope, DeChick successfully guided a plastic tube down the throat of an adult dummy representing an incapacitated patient as a way to protect his airway and provide a means for mechanical breathing.
No, DeChick is not a registered nurse, paramedic, doctor or any type of health-care professional. She is just 14 and a rising high school freshman, and yet accomplished a mock intubation, an invasive procedure that typically requires a lot of clinical experience to master.
For that she can credit the Medical Academy of Science and Health Camp, a program that she and 19 other teenagers from the Finger Lakes region attended July 8 and 9 at Auburn Memorial Hospital.
Sponsored by AMH, the Central New York Area Health Education Center and Excellus BlueCross Blue Shield, M.A.S.H Camp, now in its fourth year, provided a group of junior high and high school students the opportunity to get a hands-on look at the world of health care.
Campers were exposed to the ins and outs of different professions within the health-care field, from laboratory technicians and certified nurse assistants to physicians and physical therapists.
It was in a session of the “Who, What Where and Why of the Critical Care Air Ambulance” workshop that DeChick and nine of her fellow campers intubated adult and baby dummies.
“Look at this!” workshop instructor and Mercy Flight Central Flight Nurse Jessica Falk said to DeChick as latex gloves affixed to the abdomen of the adult mannequin inflated and deflated with each squeeze of the Ambu bag. “You saved his life!”
AMH established M.A.S.H Camp four years ago as a way to proactively deal with a shortage of hands in the health-care field throughout central New York, Director of Volunteer Services Judy Santillo said. Rather than sit idly by as positions remain vacant in area hospitals, AMH began targeting teenagers and introducing them to the jobs health care offers.
“We are reaching out to our young people to show them what it would be like to work in health care,” she said. “We are getting their minds thinking that this could be a possibility when they graduate college.”
Campers traveled throughout the, learning about everything including respiratory care, radiology and mental health. For several of the participants, the experience augmented and reaffirmed what they want to do when they get older.
“It showed me other areas I can do in the field of health care,” Jessica Miller, 14, of Weedsport said. “I still want to be a pediatric nurse because it's really the most interesting to me.”
Miller knew she wanted to be a pediatric nurse before she went to the camp, but realized that is exactly what she wants to do after seeing a newborn baby and getting a tour of the maternity wing last week.
For Luke Wilczek, 13, of Auburn, health care is the family business as his mother is in the field and works at the hospital. But even though he was first exposed to health care when he was young, he received an eye-opening experience at camp, during which he realized he absolutely wanted to be an opthamologist.
“You can actually see the doctor of pediatrician in their actual working environment and see what they do,” he said of the camp.
The world may also see a new surgeon or pediatrician if Felicia Sciortino gets her way.
“I just want to help people,” said the 13-year-old from Fleming, “and I think if I help people with medicine it can help them be more healthy or live longer.”
Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at 253-5311 ext. 239 or alyssa.sunkin@lee.net
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