Program at high school offers first aid experience for CNA students
From left: CNA classmates Abby Dyk, Alia Schmitt, Mandy Brown, Kerrancy Deprez, Quinn Hooper, Liz Smith, Kaya Wright, Madison Tuberville, Lily Gammon, Alexa Zavala and Chloe Martin pose for a photo next to a Bonner County ambulance.
Courtesy of LIZ SMITH
from left: CNA classmates Chloe Martin, Lily Gammon, Alia Schmitt, Kaya Wright and Quinn Hooper pose for a photo.
A program started in January at Sandpoint High School is giving students the chance to help their peers and gain first aid experience.
The students, known as the code team, are part of a larger certified nursing assistant class at the high school.
Liz Smith, a registered nurse who teaches the class, said the experience is a valuable tool for learning. When an injury is reported in the school, students on the code team are called in to offer basic first aid, which they’re certified for along with CPR training.
Usually, she said, students would get more clinical experience. The class has partnered with Bonner County EMS for training and the chance to see inside of an ambulance.
Because of the pandemic, however, they’ve had to train on dummies — so the code team is one of the only ways for current students to get hands-on experience, Smith said.
“They have to document the entire situation, including what supplies they use,” Smith said. “I love that workplace readiness piece of it.”
Students are not allowed to perform any sort of medical procedure, Miles said, only basic first aid. And because team members are also required to document what they do when they respond and take vital signs, it’s helpful training for a future career in medicine.
The idea came from another nurse running a similar CNA program, Smith said. The school where she worked didn’t have a school nurse, but it did have a code team.
Although the Lake Pend Oreille School District has nurses, there are no longer school nurses for each building said SHS Principal David Miles. District nurses have also been busier in the past year doing contact tracing, so there’s an added benefit to having trained students in the building.
“There are scenarios where, you know, we have probably better trained students [than adults] in the nursing program for CPR and emergency response,” he said.
Having the code team be able to respond also provides more information for nurses when they do arrive at the school, Miles said.
All students in the code team are a part of the larger CNA program for seniors, Miles said. Students who complete all of the requirements will graduate as a certified CNA paid for by the state’s Fast Forward money, which is a major career boost for any medical profession.
All of the students in her class want to go into some medical field, she said. Many plan for pre-med or nursing, although some are interested in other fields like psychiatric care. Regardless, having a CNA certification is a strong indicator for application committees that students are serious about their career.
“Looking at two different students maybe have similar GPAs,” Miles said, “they're gonna lean towards the one that has their CNA.”
Even if students didn’t complete the CNA, though, being part of the code team provides valuable experience, Smith said.
Students on the code team are all assigned days to be on duty, with two on-call each day, equipped with radios where they can be called for help if needed.
Students on the code team responded to two calls in the first week, Smith said, with none since then. However, she said, when there are more incidents it will help to have the team available.
“ I keep telling them, but when something happens, and you actually get to make a difference, it's gonna mean so much more,” Smith said.
