Theresa Kovacs, Medtronic TPTC Mobile Unit manager, shows Keith Middle School students the inner workings of the heart on Monday. The children arrived in groups of 12 to 14 students to tour the Medtronic van parked outside St. Lukes Hospital in New Bedford. PETER PEREIRA
NEW BEDFORD — Seventh-graders from Keith Middle School are trying their hands at virtual heart surgery as part of Southcoast Hospital Group's Cardiac Prevention Program.
Earlier this year, program representatives visited the students at Keith, where their blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol were checked as part of a cardiovascular health program in the classroom.
This week, the program continues as about 150 students visit the Medtronic Therapy and Procedure Training Center Mobile Unit, an 80-foot-long semi-truck with two virtual catheterization labs on board.
"This is something they are not going to see in school," said Donna Querim, a nurse clinician with the Cardiac Prevention Program.
"They get to play doctor and not kill the patient."
The children arrived in groups of 12 to 14 students to tour the Medtronic van parked outside St. Luke's Hospital.
After a basic lesson in the anatomy of the heart and an overview of pacemakers, each student had the opportunity to work with simulation equipment to insert a pacemaker lead into the heart of a lifelike mannequin.
During the procedure, each "surgeon" watched the virtual X-ray monitor as they secured the lead to the wall of the patient's heart.
Theresa Kovacs, Medtronic TPTC Mobile Unit manager, said the simulators provide a virtual-reality experience that is very close to the actual procedure.
"They get the opportunity to get their hands on the tools and see how they operate on a real patient," Ms. Kovacs said.
"This is a great teaching tool to show people exactly what the heart looks like."
"We started the year off teaching about nutrition and lifestyle choices," health teacher Kady Plante-Szady said.
"We brought up the fact that obesity and childhood diabetes are a concern, and between the lessons and seeing the results of their blood work and seeing today what could happen and has to happen to fix things, all things combined, we are hoping the message gets in."
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