New Jersey kindergartners step into the role of doctors, nurses with teddy bears as patients
It was a different kind of field trip for a few kindergarten students in Camden on Friday: seeing inside an ambulance and then inside a hospital for Cooper Hospital's annual Teddy Bears to the Rescue event.
Here, teddy bears become patients, and the medical staff guide the students through diagnosing and treating them using real medical tools and equipment — things like x-rays and heart imaging.
"This helps to increase their familiarity to get comfortable with who they might be seeing in the event they ever have to come back," Max Kursh from Cooper Hospital said. "We help to ease their anxiety around coming to the hospital."
Six-year-old Messiah named his teddy bear Blueberry.
"He went outside without a coat, and then he got sick," Messiah said.
This group imagined all kinds of situations.
"She was riding her scooter without a helmet then she fell off then she broke her leg," Sylee said.
Physical therapist Delia Tarantino also had the opportunity to explain why wheelchairs and crutches are sometimes necessary.
"The coolest part is just getting to work with the kids, getting them comfortable being here, and teaching them what we do everyday," Tarantino said.
Along with some prevention lessons, like swimming safety, the students also learned about staying healthy and away from the hospital.