TRUCKEE, Calif. — In October, Donner Trail Elementary School students gained medical knowledge by rotating in three groups through three areas of Tahoe Forest Hospital as part of a science field trip.

The students, ranging in age from kindergarten to fifth grade, visited the hospital wearing kid-sized lab coats.

The trip was the finalé of the school’s Human Body Session — covering bones and joints as levers and fulcrums, motor and sensory nerves, organs and how they communicate with each other within the body.

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Students also learned about germs and hand washing. Laurel Holmer, Tahoe Forest’s Infection Control Practitioner, led students through two exercises assisted by teachers and parents.

They performed a hand-washing exercise using a black light to show any “germs” they did not wash off their hands. One student noted, “Lots of germs live on your hands!”

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They also learned about identifying gram-positive versus gram-negative bacteria using a microscope.

In the hospital’s Emergency Department, they saw how to make a splint and learned about the department and its staff.

Jeff Jackson, RN, Emergency Department nurse, led a hands-on demonstration of how a splint is made in the cast room. The students also received a tour.

Students learned about what patients see in a hospital room. Medical Surgical Nurse, Shana Berger, RN, showed them around a Medical Surgical Department room, explaining the equipment and devices.

Students were able to see one of their fellow student’s heartbeat on a monitor, learning about how our bodies generate the electricity that makes the heart beat.

“The goal,” says Derek Wogsland, RN, who helped organize the field trip, “is to make a positive impression on our local students for many years to come,” because the visit, in addition to allowing kids to learn about what goes on in a hospital, may help spark further interest in science or medicine.

This article as submitted by Tahoe Forest Health System. Visit tfhd.com to learn more.