Most people do their best to stay out of the operating room, but on Saturday, Frederick Memorial Hospital will open its ORs to the public to show visitors what surgery is like — without going under the knife.The open house will take visitors through the same steps a patient would take as he or she goes through the surgical experience. The hands-on, interactive event is geared toward children and teens, but everyone is invited, staff nurse Bonnie Baust said. Visitors will be asked some basic questions in the pre-op area, similar to queries patients would face prior to surgery. The first OR will showcase a laparoscopic gall bladder removal, with footage from a camera placed inside the body during an actual surgery. Visitors can then try their hand at the operation with real surgical tools and a simulated abdominal cavity. The next room will feature a spinal surgery, showing doctors fusing a spine using plates and screws, and applying cement to a fractured vertebrae. Visitors can check out a model spine and actual tools used in such surgeries. After their surgical experiences, visitors will be taken to the post-surgery unit, from which typical patients are sent home or to another hospital unit. About 100 people came to last year's open house, Baust said, and she hopes for an even larger turnout this year. FMH targets groups like the Girl Scouts and high school students who may be considering a career in health care, she said. The event is open to everyone free of charge.
|
|
