Students learn CPR, hand washing basics in interactive campus visit
Seventy-five fourth graders from Swallows Charter Academy discovered Wednesday morning that washing your hands properly takes more effort than they thought. Under black lights in Colorado State University Pueblo’s simulation lab, the invisible “germs” they missed glowed like tiny accusers.
“Some of them were like, ‘I never wash my hands when I go to the bathroom,’” said Ami Maureen Bajah-Onyejekwe, the lab’s simulation coordinator and registered nurse, recounting the morning’s revelations. “But then we have them go back and wash again, and they see the difference.”
The visit kicked off CSU Pueblo’s Simulation Week, an annual celebration that puts hands-on medical training front and center. What started as 75 elementary students learning about cardiovascular systems evolved into an afternoon CPR competition that had nursing students and faculty breaking a sweat.
The morning session ran from 9 to nearly noon, with students rotating through stations in groups of nine or ten. They measured pulse rates before and after jumping jacks, watched videos about heart function, and tried to locate organs on anatomical models. But the real surprise came when they met the talking mannequin.
“They don’t know he’s going to talk,” Bajah-Onyejekwe explained. “We get their teachers to tell us their names, so the mannequin’s like, ‘I think I know you, Kayden.’ And they’re like, ‘What?’”
The interactive approach extends beyond novelty. Students learned about sugar content by examining test tubes filled with the actual amounts found in sodas and donuts. “Whenever you eat a cookie, this is how much sugar,” the coordinator told them, showing the visual representation.
By afternoon, the focus shifted to college students and a CPR competition that proved more physically demanding than participants expected. Kenny Sanchez, a junior studying Computer Information Systems, and Lahela Seibel, a nursing major, were among those encouraging campus community members to test their skills on high-tech mannequins that provided real-time feedback.
found themselves chanting “Stayin’ Alive” to maintain proper rhythm while pushing hard enough to simulate breaking ribs, which proper CPR actually does.
“That’s what real CPR feels like,” one participant noted afterward, breathing heavily. “It’s like doing jumping jacks.”
The physical reality drives home a crucial message, according to Bajah-Onyejekwe. “Over 60% of CPR is not done well,” she said. “That’s why you have teams, so that the compressions and recoil are consistent. Otherwise mortality rates go up.”
Dr. Kristine Morris, Dean and Director of the School of Nursing, emphasized the deeper educational philosophy behind the week’s activities. “Montessori taught us this a hundred years ago,” she said. “You have to touch the abstract to make it real. Nurses learn by doing.”
The simulation lab provides what Morris calls “a safe and controlled environment” for students to practice skills they’ll need in healthcare settings. “It’s one thing to be able to pass a test and know it up here,” she said, pointing to her head, “to be able to do it with your hands and your body and your feet.”
Morris, who recently joined CSU Pueblo, acknowledged she didn’t participate in the CPR competition herself. “I can’t get on the floor anymore,” she said with a laugh. “My knees need to be replaced and they’re going to be very angry.”
Simulation Week continues Thursday with a SimLab open house from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., offering more community members a chance to experience hands-on medical training. Bajah-Onyejekwe is already planning future collaborations with local schools, potentially including Halloween-themed health education activities.
