The collaborative effort of four institutions brought students interested in the medical field together with professionals from the field.
“The Nebraska Panhandle Area Health Education Center actually came to us (Scotts Bluff County 4-H) and asked us to put together a day like this,” said Melissa Mracek, Box Butte County 4-H Extension Educator. “So we reached out to different resources within Western Nebraska Community College and the education center.”
The result was the “2024 Incredible Medical Health Day,” held on Wednesday, Dec. 4, at the Panhandle Research Extension and Education Center in Scottsbluff. The day had around 50 freshmen and sophomores from three schools attending to learn more about nursing, surgery, and life-saving measures to take in an accident.
The day had four stations focused on four major career paths related to rural hospitals: Business, Nursing, Surgical Technician, and Lab Technician. The Escape Room, led by Nebraska Extension, was set up at tables, which had boxes with clues for students to unlock the following box. The activity was a hands-on way to showcase the behind-the-scenes positions that allow a hospital to run from the HR representatives to the accountants.
“To solve our escape room, each puzzle comes with a 3-D brain piece they have to put together. So, some of them are like, ‘oh math I don’t know if I can do this,’ but then they get going, and they figure it out,” Mracek said.” The students use various tools, from a heat gun to melt some crayon pieces to find clues to UV lights to find more clues and the brain pieces, which must be put together to win the challenge.
Many of the Panhandle schools have programs geared towards helping students investigate a career before they graduate.
“We have a strong HOSA (Future Health Professionals) program at Gering and a medical pathway with some BNA (Basic Nursing Assistant) we offer,” said Keaton Green, Gering High School assistant principal. “We were contacted by the university (UNL) for this opportunity to expose our kids to careers in rural health and medical fields. These partnerships with 4-H and University really impact our kids to spark an interest in things they may not be aware is out there.”
Along with the Escape Room, students had the opportunity to learn from actual medical professionals and try out some of the tasks they worked on in their everyday jobs. Students participated in a laparoscopic surgery simulator, learned how to suture, performed lab tests on Urine and Blood, and were certified in “Stop the Bleed.”
The day was sponsored by the Nebraska Panhandle Area Health Education Center and hosted with the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Western Nebraska Community College, and 4-H Educators Nathan Rice, Sarah Paisley, and Melissa Mracek.