MAPmedics and the School Partnership Programme
Holly, Sienna and Tōmai representing MAPmedics at the Schools Partnership Programme.
On 1/5/25, Māori and Pasifika year 11 students from various schools in Tāmaki Makaurau visited AUT, gaining insight into all the courses available at South Campus. On Duncan's request, four MAPmedics students volunteered their time to teach CPR and showcase equipment and skills taught in the degree. These were split into stations, the first included an airway with different adjuncts and mannequins. The students were shown how to insert LMA’s, use BVM’s, and remove foreign body airway obstructions. The next station was a CPR competition using the little anne mannequins and an app. The third station included an intubated mannequin and a LUCAS device. The last station had IV arms, where MAPmedics students demonstrated how to cannulate and allowed the year 11 students to flush and feel for veins.
At the start of each session, a basic overview of the degree and diploma was explained, followed by a short CPR tutorial and competition between year 11 students led by a MAPS student. Proper technique, depth and rate were explained, both a metronome and music were used to keep students engaged, allowing proper rate. After that, students were allowed to freely move from different stations. Many students were whakamā to begin with. However, as they saw their peers engaging in the mahi, they became more confident to give these skills a go! Many even came back for multiple rounds of compressions and also figured out how to substitute for their peers without the support of the MAPmedics tauira. The students also thoroughly enjoyed the music, which created a fun and open environment for learning.
The IV station was great. Many students were curious and had lots of questions about the anatomy of the arm, the use of an IV, why and what you would use an IV for, and shared their own stories around their own IVS. Tauira were also keen to have a go at flushing the IVS with saline and were buzzing out when feeling for veins. The mentors also allowed tauira to feel for real veins on their arms, intriguing the students even more. Tauira were also very keen on the airway adjunct station. This station allowed tauira to use forceps to remove foreign bodies, which was mimicked by gloves and also allowed them to insert LMA’s and attach further airway adjuncts such as BVM’s and tube holders. Many were fascinated by how the BVM inflated the lungs and had their competitions regarding the forceps. There were also many questions around the anatomy of the upper respiratory tract and fascination around how each airway adjunct was made to fit the anatomy.
Hei whakakapi i ēnei kōrero, this day was awesome! Though at the beginning many were shy, it was great to see tauira engaging in the mahi and getting into everything. Duncan also mentioned that these activities were the highlight for many tauira. Overall, we hope that this day encouraged tauira to pursue a career in this field, and we also hope that they recognise that they can achieve anything and everything that they are keen to do! This was a privilege to be a part of, and the future of our Māori and Pasifika tauira is bright!
Ngā mihi nui,
Nā māua noa, Holly, Tōmai and Sienna.
