On February 23, Heritage suffered a disaster! Well not a real one, anyway.  HOSA, Future Health Professionals, is a national organization with local chapters throughout high schools across the United States. Students are given the opportunity to participate and compete in multiple events. The RHHS HOSA Club hosted a medical event in the field house. The Rogers Fire Department volunteered to come and train Heritage’s medical students how to handle various injuries in a mass emergency situation. This mock-incident revolved around the stadium bleachers collapsing, “injuring” many students. All of Mr. Allen’s and Mr. Morris’ medical classes attended this event in hopes of learning how to treat various injuries under pressure.

Freshman, Shelby McDougal, participated in the event.  “We knew about the event weeks beforehand because we have been wanting to make this happen for a while,” said McDougal. “The paramedics and firemen helped us by asking us questions, and letting us do some of the things that would have been necessary.”

Nick Cuccia, a sophomore, also attended the meeting. “We were preparing for this event weeks beforehand. The stadium collapse brought in many people with several different injuries, so had to learn how to save their lives,” said Cuccia. “It helped me know how to deal with the major trauma of these medical situations as well as the pressure of these situations.”

This event taught these medical students more about the field they might pursue. Students in HOSA can also choose to compete in State events for various skills. The following students recently competed in the State HOSA events in Hot Springs.

• Sydney Golding, silver in Epidemiology
• Kim Le, bronze in Home Health Aid
• Sydney Barnes and April Warren, silver in Forensic Medicine

Career Technical classes and clubs such as Medical Procedures and HOSA, provide students hands-on opportunities unlike any other. Congratulations to HOSA for their successful event and competition winners!