Healthcare Camp Prepares Conn. Kids

BRIDGEPORT, Conn., July 17 -- Vinny wasn't doing well.

Though he donned a whimsical pair of sunglasses as he lay on a bed at St. Vincent's College, Vinny had third-degree burns on his right hand, which was covered in blackened flesh.

There were second-degree burns up that same arm, a serious burn on one of his thighs, he had difficulty breathing, and his eyebrows had been singed off. All these various injuries were caused by a backyard grill fire.

The group of adolescents gathered around the patient Tuesday morning agreed that Vinny was in bad shape.

"This guy's accident prone," deadpanned 12-year-old Alyssa Negron, of Stratford. Her observation might seem insensitive, but Vinny isn't a human being. He's a life-like simulation mannequin used to train nursing students at St. Vincent's.

On Tuesday, he was used to educate a different group of students -- campers in St. Vincent's Summer Outreach Program. Funded through a grant from the state, the program's goal is to get more young people -- particularly minorities and boys -- interested in healthcare as a career.

"A lot of kids tell me that, when they're in school, they don't like science because they don't think science is fun," said Dr. Susan Capasso, academic dean at St. Vincent's College.

The camp aims to change that mind-set by mixing education with interesting hands-on activities, such as the visit with Vinny. So far, Capasso said, the camp has been successful, as many graduates have gone on to become nursing students at the college, or pursue other healthcareers.

The camp runs all week, with sessions in the morning and the afternoon. About 100 adolescents from Bridgeport and surrounding towns are enrolled. This is the fifth year that St. Vincent's College, which is affiliated with nearby St. Vincent's Medical Center, has hosted the summer camp for students in grades 7 to 12.

Each year's camp has a different theme, and this year's was "Disaster Planning: The Role of Healthcare Workers." Capasso said the theme was selected because of the various disasters and emergencies that have struck the Northeast in the past year, including Hurricane Sandy, the February blizzard and the bombing at the Boston Marathon.

"I didn't want (the students) to be scared, but I wanted them to be able to defend themselves," she said. Among other things, Capasso said, campers will learn first aid, what items they need in an emergency and how to respond when various disasters hit.

Vinny the mannequin was part of a lesson on burn injuries lead by Dr. Sharon Makowski, a nursing professor at the college. Shortly before taking them to meet Vinny, Makowski spent a half-hour teaching campers about the various types of burns, what causes them and how to treat them.

Thanks to that lesson, the kids quickly knew how severe Vinny's injuries were and that he might lose his right hand because of them.

Makowski told the students that doctors and nurses might be able to save Vinny's hand with a graft, using skin from elsewhere on the patient's body or, in some cases, from a donated cadaver. The concept disgusted some of the campers, including Negron.

"I'd rather get my hand cut off," she told Makowski.

Like many of the campers, Negron got involved in the camp because she has a parent who works at St. Vincent's. Other campers are recruited through area schools.

At least one camper, Luke Montanaro, of Trumbull, found Vinny a little too real.

"That's creepy," said the 13-year-old upon feeling the mannequin's pulsing throat. "I am creeped out."

In previous years, the students at the outreach program overwhelmingly were girls. But this year, nearly half of the 100 campers are boys. Capasso said a number of them are interested in becoming nurses.

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