Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service (WBHHS) is helping 11 year old Eloise on the first steps towards achieving her dreams of working in healthcare with a donation of ‘real life’ medical equipment for Cordalba State School students.
Eloise, a Year 6 student at Cordalba State School, is blind and has been interested in doctors and first aid for many years. She wrote to WBHHS requesting a donation of any expired medical equipment to contribute to the ‘first aid kit’ that she and her friends use when they play doctors.
WBHHS assembled a carload of medical equipment that was delivered to Eloise and her schoolmates, including blood pressure monitor, IV pole, nebuliser, bandages and syringes. The equipment is all out of date, or otherwise unable to be used for patient care, and has been decommissioned to ensure it’s safe for the students to play with.
When Eloise was asked what she wanted to do as a career in the future she said she wanted to work at Wide Bay Health Service and to supply medical equipment.
When unpacking the delivery, Eloise said, “This is the best thing in my life! I can’t believe I got a hold of a life pack 15 defib! I’m going to use this to check my own vitals and practice on people!”
The equipment was presented to the school by Tracey Newton, a registered nurse at WBHHS and former Cordalba State School student. Being a past student of Cordalba SS, Tracey was able to not only share her nursing journey, but to share her story from being a student at that very same school to all the amazing nursing positions she was able to experience, from RN to midwife, running antenatal clinics to now being a Diabetes Educator.
Debbie Carroll, Wide Bay HHS Chief Executive said “So many of the nurses, doctors and other health professionals within our health service developed an interest in healthcare at a young age. I knew I wanted to be a nurse when I was Eloise’s age. This donation is a great opportunity to inspire students by helping them learn through play.”