At the beginning of February, the Medical Assistant class from Ross Medical Education Center in Bowling Green took a field trip to Bristow Elementary to teach proper hand hygiene to the children there. It was an event that they had all been preparing for and looking forward to for quite some time. That day, the Ross students paid special attention to their dress code, attitude, and professionalism while educating around 50 first grade students on the dangers of germs and the benefits of proper hand washing.
After watching an educational video and engaging in a brief, albeit lively, discussion, the first graders were all given a small amount of Glo-Germ to apply to their hands. They were then shown how it glows under a blacklight. Not only would their hands glow, but every single thing that they touched would get the substance on it, just like germs are spread. Although most adults know the importance of handwashing, children typically need a physical example to see and understand why it works. One by one, each of the children then took turns washing their hands the way that they normally would. After washing, each elementary student returned to put their hands under the blacklight to see how well they had been able to wash the substance off.
Once they were able to see their hands after washing, many of the first graders squealed, “Germs!” as they found that many of their wrists, knuckle creases, and cuticles were still glowing brightly. They were amazed at how difficult it can be to get rid of germs and how easily they are spread. The Medical Assistant students did a wonderful job and had a blast educating the children at Bristow Elementary about what they have spent so much time learning about in the classroom at Ross. They hope that each of those children will spend just a little while longer at the sink after learning from their presentation.