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March 25, 2000Healthy competitionHigh school students vie for hardware at state conferenceBy ERIC HINESRecord-Eagle staff writer ACME - Spread across the floor of the Michigan Ballroom at the Grand Traverse Resort and Spa, four different teams applied first aid and CPR to accident victims as men and women with blue shirts and clipboards looked on. This was not the scene of an accident, though. "We're here to win some medals," said Michael Rogers of Loy Norrix High School in Kalamazoo. He and his partner Danielle Johnson were just two of nearly 1,000 high school students statewide who converged on the resort to compete at the 20th anniversary Michigan Health Occupation Students of America Conference. The scenario in the EMT competition in the Mackinac Room had Tracy Lido and Matt Czarnecki of the Career Prep Center in Sterling Heights responding to an accident involving a bicycle and a car. Lido and Czarnecki left the accident scene on a "big adrenaline rush," Czarnecki said. "You know the steps, but you get so nervous once you are in the scenario, you have to calm yourself down." The first thing Lido and Czarnecki had to do was to stabilize the patient's neck and get her lying flat on a backboard. After that make sure there is nothing wrong with the patients breathing and stop any major bleeding. The bike rider had a 2-inch cut on her arm that required pressure to an artery to staunch. After stopping the bleeding, Lido and Czarnecki then carefully assessed the patient's injuries moving from the head to the torso and then to the extremities. Then they made a transportation decision for the patient. "Basically we are dealing with a package. It is our job to wrap up and deliver the package. The medical people at the hospital unwrap it and put it back together." While Lido and Czarnecki dealt with their EMT scenario, Rogers and Johnson were dealing with a mother and infant that had been run down by a car. Rogers had to resuscitate the baby, which had stopped breathing at one point. Johnson, meanwhile, treated the mother for shock. "This is great," Rogers said after leaving his scene. "The scenarios are realistic, and the victims played their parts really well. This is a great experience for anyone interested in health career fields." The HOSA conference, which brings together students participating in Allied Health curricula from around Michigan, features competitions in 46 different areas of health care-related knowledge and skills. Students displayed their skills in blood drawling simulations, responding to accident scenarios and treating the "victims," and by demonstrating their knowledge of areas like medical terminology. The three medalists in each area of the Michigan competition will go on to the national HOSA competition in Cleveland in June. HOSA is closely integrated with the 168 Allied Health programs in Michigan schools, said Carol Clark of the Michigan Department of Career Development. "The competitions here directly reflect what they've been learning in class." |
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