TEENS ATTEND MASH CAMP

By Jeannie Nugent/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF

Seventeen-year-old White Hall student Barnes Bloom looked down at the mangled body of his best friend, Mike Cash, on the grounds of the I-530 Medical Mall Friday morning. He raked his fingers through his hair and rested his palm against his bloodied forehead.

Bloom’s white T-shirt was splattered with blood and a full bottle of beer peeked out of the back pocket of his jeans. Cash was eerily motionless.

Suddenly Bloom lifted his right foot and playfully kicked Cash’s leg. Both young men — and the crowd of students surrounding them — broke into laughter.

The realistic emergency drill — complete with inebriated teenagers, two demolished cars, troupes of fire fighters, a medical helicopter, and policemen and emergency medical technicians — is an annual tradition signaling the end of the first week of summer MASH (Medical Applications of Science for Health) camp, held locally by the Arkansas Health Education Center.

“It was pretty fun. We had a good time. It was an amazing experience,” Bloom said. “You definitely don’t get to do something like this very often. It teaches you a lot. Just the thought of it scares you. Seeing my best friend ‘dead’ freaked me out a little.”

Dozens of junior and senior high school students from area schools vied for a coveted spot in the two-week camp where they shadow physicians, learn how to suture pig’s feet and get a front-row seat to the inner workings of the medical field.

The MASH camp was actually the brain child of the Pine Bluff AHEC business manager Eddie Maples, who organized the first camp more than 14 years ago. It quickly grew to become a state-wide program to address the declining number of medical professionals in rural Arkansas. County Farm Bureau agencies and the Arkansas Medical Mentor Partnership — which consists of the University of Arkansas for Medical Science’s Area Health Education Center and Rural Hospital Program, Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Arkansas Farm Bureau, Baptist Health, and the Arkansas Health Department’s Office of Oral Health — sponsor students so they can attend the camp at no cost.

“This summer around 400 high school students will attend these camps, and hopefully several of them will decide to pursue medical careers,” said Stanley Reed, president of Arkansas Farm Bureau. “Because of MASH we are seeing nurses, pharmacists and family doctors returning to their rural roots.”

Lequan Dang, a 17-year-old White Hall student, portrayed the part of a teen car crash victim in Friday’s exercise. She’s adamant when she says she’s going into the medical field, either as an anesthesiologist or a pediatrician.

Bloom, who has the second highest GPA in his class, wants to be a doctor. Cash, 17, is set on becoming an orthopedic surgeon.

To qualify, students must complete their biology course requirement and write an essay of why they want to be accepted into the camp.

“MASH exposes these young high school students not only to career possibilities, but to their studies in high school and college and how important it is to be thinking ahead and making plans for their future,” said Pat Vannatta, who heads the state-wide program from UAMS. “It provides them that overview many high school students need so they can get on the right academic path to the career choice they want.”

It’s important to make the experience real for the students, said Louann McPherson, of the Pine Bluff Chemical Activity Division at the Pine Bluff Arsenal. McPherson and her assistant, Teddy Spivey, provided the “mulage” for the students, and coached them on their acting jobs.

“We did the blood and guts,” McPherson explained.

After the drill was complete, Emergency Ambulance Services Operations Manager John Badgley pulled the group together to drive home the reality of the mock emergency. The students listened intently as he outlined the role of the different agencies, from the firefighters to the coroner.

“They got a sense of how the whole community comes together for one purpose,” Badgley said. “It even goes down to the wrecker drivers. They’re really the unsung heroes when it comes to car accidents.”

The cars provided for the drill were donated by Foster Towing and Recovery. Operations Manager Glen Roberts said the company has been a part of the drills since it began locally more than a decade ago.

“We do it for the kids. Don’t drink and drive,” Roberts said. “It’s the biggest lesson we can share.”