Rushing To Help: A True Hero
It’s not every day that an 18 year old student performs a medical
emergency procedure on someone, let alone two in the same day! That is
what happened to Bianca Alves on February 25th…Bianca is a Health
Assisting student at the Rindge School of Technical Arts where she
earned her CNA certificate last year.
While
Bianca was in the school cafeteria, one of the cafeteria workers
accidently cut off the tip of her finger. Without hesitation Bianca
rushed to her aid and performed the appropriate medical procedures until
the paramedics arrived. “I stopped the bleeding with pressure and
elevation, wrapped the severed finger tip in ice and kept her calm”. “I
was scared, but all of my learned skills and instincts kicked in and I
was able to help her” When the security team and medics arrived they
were pleased to see that Bianca “had everything under control like a
true professional”.
Later the same day, Bianca and her family
were on a bus heading home when they saw a cab driver waving for help
for his passenger. Bianca and her family got off the bus to help. A
nurse was now at the scene and Bianca offered her assistance. They both
went right to work on the man as he was having a seizure. Even her twin
sister, Sabrina gave up her coat to keep him warm Conversing in medical
terms and performing emergency procedures together, they kept the man
calm and safe until the paramedics arrived. Coincidently, it was the
same paramedic from that morning’s cafeteria incident! He was so
impressed with her skills and composure that he offered her a job!
Her
Health Assisting teacher, Gina Hughes, said that “Bianca has true
instincts for helping others. Some people run from emergencies, Bianca
rushes in to help, we are very proud of her”.
Bianca is also
participating in the Cooperative Education Program at CRLS. She works at
Spaulding Hospital every day during class time to perfect both her
technical and employability skills.
“I learned all my skills from
my Health Assisting teachers, without them I wouldn’t have had the
ability and confidence to do what I did”. “Working at Spaulding Hospital
gives me the chance to apply my skills to real life situations”.
Learning is one thing, but applying what you’ve learned under pressure is something else. Bianca obviously does both very well!