While this week was less exciting than last week, it was still an incredible experience. On Monday I began by showing my procedure for the CPR experiment to the student leading it. I was told it is a "good procedure" and that we will be using it. What a relief. That being said, this week has focused mainly on CPR - I'm beginning to see myself as a bit of an expert in it. I have read more studies on CPR and its proper execution than I wish to admit, and all while listening to Stayin' Alive by the Bee Gees. Exciting, I know. After we reviewed the procedure, I had the honor of being formally taught how to perform CPR on a dummy that we affectionately named "Chad". It was an interesting experience, and I learned a lot, but what struck me the most was how incredibly bad I am at performing CPR. The YouTube videos made it look so easy. Am I slightly worried for my aspiring medical career? Yes. Am I going to "bulk up" like the trainer suggested? Unlikely. Here are a few tips I learned on how to perform CPR properly:
After learning for the CPR experiment, I got to learn how to use a syringe pump. More accurately speaking, I got to try to figure out how to use a syringe pump because neither I, nor the person I was shadowing, knew. We need this pump to be able to pump platelets through a tube lined with a biodegradable polymer in order to see how many of these platelets activate because of the polymer. The goal here is to be able to use the polymer to develop stents, but if it activates too many platelets, it could cause blood clots. Not the best of ideas. Luckily, our combined efforts got the pump to work, and the project will hopefully be underway with actual platelets (instead of water) very soon. Thoughts after this week:
Until next week! Maren
1 Comment
Cynthia Blackey
2/28/2017 12:06:13 pm
Your posts are very informative and engaging. Keep up the great work! Glad you found Google scholar docs. I'd be interested to know how common it is for people to simply not be able to effectively do chest compressions. I imagine it's actually a fairly common issue.
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AuthorHello! I'm Maren, a high school senior and aspiring BME student. My goal is to share my experiences as I dive into the field of Biomedical Engineering. If you have any questions or remarks, please don't hesitate to leave a comment! Archives
April 2017
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