Local students adopt Dialysis Center

By Kari Pugh
Published: June 09, 2010

Students from Forest Park High School’s Key Club and Learn and Serve have entered into a co-operative extension program with Renal Care Partners of Woodbridge, a new local dialysis center.

Shannon Geraghty coordinates their efforts from the Forest Park side with Naomi Carbone, administrator for the dialysis center.

What began as a simple request by Ceil Augustine, the center’s social worker, for any used gloves or hats has blossomed into a unique opportunity for the Forest Park volunteers and the patients at the facility.

Students undergo orientation and federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration safety training before they begin working.

Their tasks in the center can range from escorting patients in wheelchairs to assembling medical packs, confirming patient appointments to troubleshooting the patient’s internet access, house-keeping to community awareness activities.

Family members of patients sometimes find it necessary to bring their children while they wait, so the students have taken this opportunity to read books, play games or do puzzles and homework with them.

Through donations collected at Forest Park and through efforts by the students, a motivational “Rewards Program” has been established. Patients can earn tickets by adhering to strict diet guide-lines, controlling their blood pressure and following doctors’ instructions. One patient saved his tickets until he could afford to buy a silverware set to give his daughter for her wedding.

“It made me appreciate everything I have so much more,” said Forest Park senior Sara Huffman.
Normal kidneys work 24 hours a day, seven days a week and dialysis can be an intimidating process, frequently requiring four-hour treatments, three days each week.

“We have to perform the same function in a much shorter amount of time,” said Carbone. “Without the treatments toxins build up in the body which can result in hospitalization and even death. Patients can quickly become overwhelmed and begin losing hope. These wonderful students have helped rejuvenate the patient’s attitudes in the dialysis center.”

“From our perspective, it’s a win-win situation,” Geraghty said. “For as long as I have been in-volved with the program, students have sought opportunities like this to gain any relevant experi-ence in a medical field.

“This co-op will provide students an extended opportunity to follow the investment of their time and efforts throughout their high school careers including summer hours when the students tradi-tionally have more time to give,” she said.

Officials from the Florida-based corporate offices for Renal Care Partners, impressed with the students’ hard work and commitment, have established the Renal Care Partners “Toni Mitchell Memorial Scholarship,” a $500 scholarship in memory of a hard-working, compassionate technician who was tragically killed in a one-car accident last September. The scholarship will be awarded annually to a college-bound senior volunteering in the center.

Key Club and Learn and Serve are nationally recognized community service programs whereby students can earn credit through volunteer activities.

-- Submitted by Forest Park High School