Takes kids behind the scenes in ER<\/b><\/p>\n<\/p>\n
A trip to the emergency room isn\u2019t something parents normally wish for their children during summer camp. Unless, of course, the camp is Valley Medical Center\u2019s annual Safety Camp.<\/p>\n
The free, day-long program is run by volunteers from the hospital\u2019s Emergency Department, so a trip through the emergency ward is all part of the fun.<\/p>\n
The fourth-annual VMC Safety Camp takes place 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Aug. 30 at the hospital\u2019s Medical Arts Center, 400 S. 43rd St., Renton.<\/p>\n
It is open to children ages 7 to 10, and includes safety seminars, a tour of the emergency department, interactive sessions with Renton Police K9 officers and Renton Fire Department personnel, and a chance to hop inside fire engines, police cruisers and ambulances.<\/p>\n
The day starts out with small-group tours, led by volunteer \u201ccamp counselors.\u201d On the tours, children get to see how the emergency department works, and what staff does on a daily basis.<\/p>\n
Standing in one of the emergency center\u2019s patient rooms, Safety Camp coordinator Shane Edwards pointed out some of the medical equipment campers interact with during their tours \u2014 heart monitors and blood pressure cuffs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hook them up to our monitor, snap on the three leads, print out their heart rhythm and they get to take (the print-out) home,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The children also get to don latex gloves and surgical masks, to \u201cmake them feel like they are part of the ER,\u201d Edwards said.<\/p>\n
After the tours, campers will congregate in the hospital\u2019s MAC building for the more serious part of the day: safety talks.<\/p>\n
Emergency department nurses will open the seminar sessions with a talk on bicycle safety, titled \u201cTrauma Nurses Talk Tough.\u201d Edwards, who will be one of the speakers, said the nurses tell true stories about children who ended up in the ER because they didn\u2019t wear properly fitting bicycle helmets, or any helmet at all. For example, he said, \u201cOne got hit by a car and became mentally delayed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Talks throughout the day will cover a variety of other safety topics, including water- and life-jacket safety and gun safety. All the talks aim to help children see the importance of taking simple steps to prevent serious accidents.<\/p>\n
VMC provides a free lunch for all the campers, as well as a free T-shirt and a backpack full of prizes.<\/p>\n
Probably the highlight of the day for most campers is the final hour, when they get to go out into the parking lot with firefighters and police to visit the emergency vehicles.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey open all the doors; they get them in the back of the medic unit,\u201d Edwards said. \u201cThe fire department actually breaks out a fire hose and the kids get to use it.\u201d<\/p>\n
With a firefighter, of course.<\/p>\n
The Safety Camp has proved a hit with both parents and children in the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have seen only positive (feedback) from people I\u2019ve talked with,\u201d Edwards said.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s so popular that, although the camp takes place at the end of August, 52 campers had already signed up by July 2. The camp can accommodate up to 75 children.<\/p>\n
Part of the reason for the camp\u2019s overwhelming popularity, Edwards said, is the fact that it\u2019s free.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen other (safety) camps about the U.S., and they\u2019re charging $25 to $75 for the same things,\u201d Edwards said.<\/p>\n
Funding for the camp comes from donations by the VMC Volunteers in Action, Associated Emergency Physicians, the Lions Club of Kent, VMC Human Resources and Public Relations departments. Also, all the people working at the camp \u2013 from nurses to firefighters \u2013 volunteer their time.<\/p>\n
Registration for the camp will remain open \u2013 via e-mail only \u2013 until all the spots have been filled.<\/p>\n
For more information or to register for Safety Camp, e-mail Edwards at SafetyCamp@valleymed.org.<\/p>\n
Contact staff writer Christine Shultz at 253-872-6600, ext. 5056, or cshultz@reporternewspapers.com.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Takes kids behind the scenes in ER A trip to the emergency room isn\u2019t something parents normally wish for their children during summer camp. Unless, of course, the camp is Valley Medical Center\u2019s annual Safety Camp. The free, day-long program is run by volunteers from the hospital\u2019s Emergency Department, so a trip through the emergency […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":106,"featured_media":11148,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"class_list":["post-11147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11147"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11148"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11147"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kentreporter.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=11147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}