Health care academy campers get hands-on experience with medical helicopter

Health care academy campers get hands-on experience with medical helicopter

A medical helicopter landed on the campus quad Tuesday morning, but not because there was an actual emergency. Campers at Lipscomb’s HCA/TriStar Health Care Academy watched as the Air Evac chopper flew over the Burton Health Sciences Center and soon got to take a look inside. “They are all interested in a health or science career of some sort,” said Laura Ward, who oversees the Health Care Academy and serves as director of admissions and student affairs for the College of Pharmacy. For camper Ashley Nicholson, the summer program provided her with an experience to learn about the medical career field. “This camp will help [me] pursue [my] goal of becoming an OBGYN or cardiologist,” Nicholson said. Ever since they arrived on campus on Sunday, the 22 campers started learning about experiences in pharmacy, nursing, nutrition and exercise science. On Tuesday the campers first learned critical skills like CPR, EKG and AED, then were thrown into real-life situations where they put those new skills to use. Three journalism camp students were recruited to participate as the “victims,” portraying injured hikers for the simulation. In the scenario, the “victims” were attacked by allergen-inducing yellow jackets and had injured their necks and wrists in the process of escaping. They also attained severe lacerations and suffered from an insulin shortage due to diabetes. Each group was dedicated to treating one victim, with an instructor to help guide the group. “If there is anything that can kill him [the victim], find it and fix it in four to six minutes,” instructor April Ezell said. Out of all the camp activities, the helicopter drew the most attention around campus. The...

Lipscomb enrollment continues to reach fall milestones

For the tenth consecutive fall semester, another Lipscomb enrollment record has been broken. More than 4,500 students are getting geared up for the semester that they all have ahead, a record number for the school. Lipscomb’s School of Nursing, the College of Business’ graduate school and Adult Degree Programs have seen double digit increases. “I believe that it is a great thing that Lipscomb University has been expanding for the past few years, especially if we as students and administrators are hoping for the school to gain more support at the national level,” senior Kenny Smith said. In addition, the university has gained an 80.5 percent retention rate with students returning from the last fall semester to this one. That is a three percent increase from the rate of last year and far above the national average of about 70 percent. “Having the recent increase of students this year is an incredible thing, in my opinion,” pharmacy student Brenna Thompson said. “We have the opportunity to bring more individuals into our community and be able to spread the grace that God has for us all within all aspects of our lives. It’s a great thing to have more people invested in what we believe and to eventually be able to share that with the rest of the world in the long run.” Photo courtesy of...