Bob Jones interns present ER design concepts

Senior biomedical interns at Bob Jones High School designed an emergency room with specialized wings for infectious diseases, heart, neurological, trauma and pediatric needs. (CONTRIBUTED)

Health science interns at Bob Jones High School and instructor Mary Kaye Jordan ‘went red’ for American Heart Month during February. (CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – Senior biomedical interns at Bob Jones High School revealed their design concepts for emergency rooms (ER) on Feb. 13.

“These hard-working students do an impressive job on these real-world projects,” Melinda Lawson said. Lawson, a registered nurse, chairs the Project Lead the Way (PLTW) Medical Academy at Bob Jones and sponsors Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA).

In their biomedical curriculum, a unit contains a real-life scenario about long waits in an ER, which results in a patient death. “Students learn how patients are triaged when they present to an ER,” consistent problems in ERs and planning a large project using Gnatt charts for time management, Lawson said.

These students visited ERs at Huntsville and Madison hospitals and Crestwood Medical Center. Then, four four-member groups each “had individual designs with ideas to provide solutions to problems associated with current designs,” Lawson said.

In addition, students developed a biomedical innovation to deliver timely, quality healthcare to ER patients.

They considered congested hallways, lab work, moving bulky equipment, room clean/prep and specialty services like psychiatry.

“Students had an unlimited budget,” Lawson said. Designs ranged from level 1 to 3 trauma ERs. Their unique ideas included flexible schedules and open floor plans.

For a large teaching hospital, the ER had specialized wings for infectious diseases, heart, neurological, trauma and pediatric). All designs had a dedicated psychiatric area.

Biomedical curriculum demands out-of-the-box thinking. “Students dream big. One group developed a ‘Health Swipe card’ that speeds up registration,” Lawson said.

Another group wanted software to monitor patient status with a real-time ER map. Another idea was a staff wristband to access patient updates anywhere.

Bob Jones Medical Academy students can focus on either PLTW biomedical or health science. Biomedical curriculum has four college-level courses, while health science includes three courses. In the senior course, both programs include a clinical internship to gain experiences in area hospitals and local clinics.

Recently, the medical academy interns completed health screenings for Madison pre-kindergarten classes and “applied our knowledge and skills learned in our separate curriculums,” Lawson said.