Trauma Career Bootcamp at LHSC allows students to explore health-care careers

The students run through a simulation in the Paediatric Critical Care Unit (PCCU) where they practiced CPR, respiratory support and what to do when a patient’s condition worsens.
LHSC News

July 24, 2024

Did you know that severe bleeding is the number one cause of death from traumatic injury? On Day One of Trauma Career Bootcamp, students dove into learning about safety, injury prevention and different responses to critical incidents and situations. They learned when and how to administer naloxone and were shown other treatments to reverse drug overdoses when the person is brought to the Emergency Department, along with learning how to “stop the bleed.”

There was no time wasted from July 8 – 12 as high school students entering grades 11 and 12 explored a variety of health-care careers through job shadowing and learned practical skills through hands-on activities at London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC).

From left: During a placement, a student learns about medical device reprocessing; two students in the Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PaLM) labs during placement.
From left: During a placement, a student learns about medical device reprocessing; two students in the Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (PaLM) labs during placement. 

The students engaged as a group when they learned through demonstrations and practical applications on how to:

  • stop bleeding from a traumatic incident,  
  • intubate in the Critical Care Trauma Centre (CCTC) in a simulation,  
  • suture and splint in the Emergency Department (ED),  
  • respond to a traumatic incident with Middlesex London Paramedic Services (MLPS),
  • put in an IV and measure blood pressure,
  • respond to a paediatric patient’s worsening condition in a simulation. 
From left: Students practice how to take blood pressure; Samantha Vollick-Quinlan from Middlesex-London Paramedic Service (MLPS) demonstrates to students how they respond to a traumatic incident.
From left: Students practice how to take blood pressure; Samantha Vollick-Quinlan from Middlesex-London Paramedic Service (MLPS) demonstrates to students how they respond to a traumatic incident. 

When they weren’t learning as a group, they were learning one-on-one, or in very small groups, in their placements.  

“Before the bootcamp started, the students shared which areas of the hospital they were most curious in learning about from a list and were given placements accordingly,” says Rai DiLoreto, Injury Prevention Specialist, Critical Care and Trauma at LHSC. “We wanted the students to be exposed to areas that were outside of their interest too, so they get to see different areas that keep a hospital running while honoring and fostering their specific areas of interest.” 

From left: Dr. Kelly Vogt teaches students how to suture a wound in the Emergency Department; Michael Fazakas, Charge Technologist – RRT, leads students through an intubation simulation in the Critical Care Trauma Centre (CCTC).
From left: Dr. Kelly Vogt teaches students how to suture a wound in the Emergency Department; Michael Fazakas, Charge Technologist – RRT, leads students through an intubation simulation in the Critical Care Trauma Centre (CCTC). 

The placements took place with a different roles in a variety of areas of practice at LHSC, such as:

  • Physiotherapy
  • Occupational Therapy
  • Radiology
  • Pharmacy
  • Labs
  • Medical Device Reprocessing (MDR)
  • CCTC
  • ED
  • Food Services
  • Switchboard

There were also new teams that joined the bootcamp this year, including:

  • Trauma Observation Unit
  • Minor Procedure Room (Children’s Hospital)
  • The Paediatric Critical Care Unit (PCCU) and the Paediatric Critical Care Outreach Team (PCCOT) (Children’s Hospital)
  • Child Life Music Therapy (Children’s Hospital)
  • Paediatric ED (Children’s Hospital) 
From left: Students learn how to insert a needle intravenously (IV) using bananas. The veins on the side of bananas work well as a guiding line for learning how to insert IVs. The students run through a simulation in the Paediatric Critical Care Unit (PCCU) where they practiced CPR, respiratory support and what to do when a patient’s condition worsens.
From left: Students learn how to insert a needle intravenously (IV) using bananas. The veins on the side of bananas work well as a guiding line for learning how to insert IVs. The students run through a simulation in the Paediatric Critical Care Unit (PCCU) where they practiced CPR, respiratory support and what to do when a patient’s condition worsens. 

The students also had the opportunity to learn over their lunch break with special Lunch & Learn presentations from different LHSC groups: the Impact! team, Volunteer Services, the Paediatric Transport Team and an activity from a Speech-Language Pathologist that demonstrated how they support patients with swallowing and their different food/liquid needs.  

The Trauma Career Bootcamp is hosted by LHSC’s Trauma Program each summer for one week. The application process for 2025 will begin in the spring. Please visit the Trauma Career Bootcamp webpage for more information.

View the video transcript for, "Trauma Career Bootcamp 2024 Wrap-Up."