Year 10 Health and Social Care Trip to the Black Country and Marches Institute of Technology

Miss Malin’s Year 10 Health and Social Care class went on an amazing trip to the Black Country and Marches Institute of Technology. The purpose of the visit was to learn about medical technologies. The day began with a tour of the institute; they showed us some of the equipment that they use for their courses, including a hospital ward, theatre room and a dental practice room. The Institute had then arranged a variety of activities for the students to participate in throughout the day.

The first activity of the day was to check vital signs. One group of students used a Doppler to check their pulse rates on different points of their bodies. The students were able to hear each other’s pulse rates on their wrist or neck. The second group used an Anatomage table to see vital signs of the heart. The table allowed the students to see the heart in different ways, such as seeing electrical impulses. The table also allowed students to see different structures of the body.

Later on in the day, the students took part in an activity involving infection prevention and control. The first group of students used a UV light to find germs in the room. The second group of students put UV hand cream on their hands, then washed their hands, then used a UV light to see if there were still germs on their hands. This demonstrated the importance of hand washing and which spots are often missed when washing your hands.

After this, the students were tasked to locate pieces of equipment around the Institute. They were asked to find the equipment, then find out what the equipment did. Equipment included wheelchairs, hoists, ultrasounds, and an operating table. During this time, some of the students were shown how to take blood samples from a patient. The Institute had a fake arm with fake blood flowing, so the students were able to use the real equipment that would be used by medical professionals.

The final activity of the day was to work in teams to construct a heart valve out of the materials provided. The students had to get marbles to move from the left atrium to the left ventricle and they could not fall back through, using only the materials provided. These materials were things like tissue paper, lollypop sticks, cardboard. All students succeeded in this task!

Overall, the students had a wonderful day. The visit was very educational and enjoyable.