Girl Scouts learn about medicine during CFVH visit
<p><strong>Emilee Chadwell-Riehle lies on a hospital bed as Nurse Shelby prepares a Doppler to show her heartbeat and answers a question from Cecelia Harris.</strong></p>
PLAINS – Girl Scouts Troop 3371, from Plains, went to the Clark Fork Valley Hospital last week to learn about the medical industry and the workings of a hospital.
The girls toured a variety of the facilities around the hospital. Elizabeth Riehle, scoutmaster of the troop, recalled they went to the Emergency Room facilities and the nursery wards, among others. Some of the girls were also hooked up to some of the equipment to see how it worked, such as seeing their heart rate with an EKG and how much oxygen was in their blood with a finger clip.
They also got to talk about the jobs available at hospitals and what the girls were able to do in terms of getting the education required for them.
The troop got to talk to many of the hospital’s employees and ask questions about their specific jobs. Riehle recalled these ranged from technical questions about the job to less serious questions, like how long it takes for a baby to be born or which jobs did not require working with blood.
“All the girls seemed to walk away with a little bit more information about a hospital and what it does for the community,” she said.
Another experience for the girls was in the clinic. The clinic has a black light machine, which shows the germs on a person’s hands. After shining the light on their hands, the girls had to wash them and see if they could get the germs off; the goal being to show the importance of thorough hand washing and where they need to focus their attention.
“It’s actually super disgusting,” Riehle recalled. “It kind of teaches you where you’re not washing well.”
She said the girls had a great time throughout the experience. Despite the often icky nature of the medical field, especially with experiences like the black light, the girls did not get particularly squeamish. In fact, the leader recalled the troop moms were more grossed out by things than the kids themselves.
“Some of them, I kind of got the opposite reaction where some of them were really like ‘that is so cool!’” she said of how the girls took everything.
The leader felt the girls came away with a better idea of just how big an operation a hospital is; that it is more than just the doctors and nurses who examine a patient when they come in. The girls could still work at a hospital, even if they do not pursue a medical profession when they grow up.
“Some girls gravitate more toward computer work or girls gravitate more towards philanthropy work,” Riehle said. “There’s opportunities to fulfill yourself in all those opportunities in hospital work.”
The Girl Scouts of America is all about helping others in the community and spreading that good will; the employees at the hospital embody this ideal and Riehle hoped the girls walked away with this understanding. She noted the hospital employees all work to help improve the lives of the members of the community as well as being a good way to reach out and benefit them.
“It takes a community in order to let the girls reach their full potential and enable them to do the best that they can,” Riehle said. “I’m just appreciative that we have organizations like that within our small town that let us do things like that for the girls.”
This trip was part of the troop’s work earning their first aid and medicine badges. In addition to the trip, the girls have also been making their own first aid kits and learning how to treat injuries they are likely to get. They have also role played making a 9-1-1 call so the girls know what to say and how to keep calm if they ever find they need to make a call to emergency services.