For the "Your Healthy Heart" program,
students from a local elementary school
make a special visit to Research Medical Center to follow up on
the classroom visits.
The children arrive in the lobby at noon, ready to learn!
The busload of kids is met by Barb Lee, our
Study Coordinator, and Dr. Eric Hockstad,
the president of KCHF, as well as many other volunteers. All of
the kids wear special
Healthy Heart t-shirts which they receive during the class visits.
Our volunteers then pass out hospital masks,
special slippers to go over their
shoes and caps to cover their hair.
After everyone gets their special gear, the
students are divided up into small
groups, and with volunteers showing the way, they travel to the
different learning
stations. After ten minutes at each station, the groups are rotated.
Blood Pressure Station
Not only do the students have their blood pressure
taken, but they also are able
to see a printout of their heart rhythm. Very cool!! They also
receive stethoscopes
to listen to their hearts.
Cooking Heart Smart
The students work hard to make some lovely "get
well" cards for the patients and
"thank you" cards for the volunteers.
Anatomy Review Station
Our Study Coordinator, Barb Lee, quizzes the
kids to make sure that they remember
what they have learned.
Cardiac Monitor Station
The kids are always fascinated by the heart
monitors and ask a lot of questions.
Patient Visits
The patients are very happy to talk to the kids
and admonish them to take good
care of their hearts. The kids aren't camera shy and happily pose
with each of the
patients! When they leave, they give the patients the cards they
made. With so
many students visiting them, the patients receive a lot of cards!!
Echo" Station
At this station some of the kids volunteer to
be the "patient" for an echocardiogram.
They are fascinated by this new view of their hearts and are excited
to get printouts
of their hearts!
Cardiac Rehab Station
At this station, the students are able to see
some of the recovering patients working out
on the exercise machines. They realize how hard someone has to
work to get healthy
after heart trouble has set in...
