‘You just saved a life’

Students at career expo learn about emergency procedures

MARSHALL -- It might have been a mock emergency scenario, but Marshall High School students Yusuf Khalif, Kulmeya Aymo and Kevin Cuniga took it very seriously.

After all, the life of a 65-year-old man complaining of shortness of breath and chest pain was in their hands, so to speak. Under the guidance of Ridgewater College paramedic program director Brian Ehlenbach, the trio practiced the procedural steps of starting an IV, defibrillating and intubating on the medical dummy. And when they were finished, Ehlenbach complimented the young men.

"Congratulations, gentlemen, you just saved a life," Ehlenbach said.

Nearly 1,200 high school students had the opportunity to learn about and even sample various career fields at the 15th annual Southwest Minnesota Career Expo -- the largest one to date -- on Tuesday at Southwest Minnesota State University.

"We had about 85 exhibitors, which is the largest we've ever had," said organizer Mary Mortier, career assessment coordinator for Southwest West Central Service Cooperative. "It was also the largest number of students we've ever had come in. There were almost 1,200 here."

LaLay Paw and Teh Byee were among the 215 students in attendance from Marshall High School. The two young women were drawn to the Ridgewater College veterinarian technology booth because of corgis named George and Lucy.

"I used to want to be a teacher, but I changed my mind," Paw said. "I want to be a vet tech."

Other area schools taking part in this year's Career Expo included: Canby, Dawson-Boyd, E.C.H.O. Charter, Hendricks, Lakeview, Minneota, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton, Tracy Area, Wabasso and Yellow Medicine East.

"The Expo just grows and grow and gets better," Mortier said. "We always take a survey to find out what exhibitors and students liked, didn't like and how we can improve. It's definitely a partnership with the schools, the Co-op and other groups that are attending. It's an amazing experience."

Mortier said she heard from numerous exhibitors that this year's event was one of the most interactive expos ever.

"It was awesome," she said. "It's always important, for the exhibitors to feel it's worth their time and for the kids to really benefit from it. When I walked around, the majority of the time, there were kids at the tables conversing and being active with them, so it was good."

North Memorial Ambulance representatives Chris Disanto and Allyson Lammers were on hand to share information regarding their line of work.

"They kids are asking about educational opportunities for EMTs," Disanto said. "Some of them have asked about the equipment, too."

Disanto pointed out the Lucas device, which drew attention from Lakeview students Claire Goepherich, Rachel Brusven and Savannah Rausch.

"It does chest compressions and CPR," he said. "It's more effective than humans can be. Using it frees us up to do procedures, clear airways and give medicine."

Lammers added that the Lucas device cuts down on the number of personnel needed to revive someone.

"It used to take four people for cardiac arrest," she said. "Now we can do it with two."

Minnesota West Community and Technical College representatives also engaged with countless students. YME's Quinton Staab enjoyed looking over the hydrostatic trainer model on display.

"I kind of like working with the engines and the hydraulics stuff," Staab said. "I like to work with my hands. There was some farming stuff and construction things that were pretty cool, too."

While he's only a sophomore, Staab said he's given some thought to career paths in the future. He appreciated the opportunity to explore a wide variety of options.

"It opened some doors a little bit," he said.

Mortier noted that there were an increased number of exhibitors in two career areas.

"Two of the largest areas were the health services and the engineering, manufacturing and technology, which thank God, because those are the ones we need the most of," she said. "The exhibitors see where the need is and that's why we exploded in those two areas. We really, really need to fill those. That's where the greatest deficit is at this time."

MnWest is working to meet the skilled worker demand, having implemented the mechatronics program two years ago.

"It's four programs in one," said David Black, a second-year student at MnWest. "It integrates hydraulics, pneumatics, programming and electrical control. It's a little bit of everything. I love the program."

Electrical and electronics engineering technicians look to make a median hourly wage of $26.60, while mechanical engineering technicians appear to earn $26.83 per hour on average.

"This can lead me to anything from basic farm repair type hydraulics, all the way through advance motion controls -- road work equipment," Black said. "Basically, if it moves in any kind of industrial setting, it has hydraulics or pneumatics on it."

Black added that he's glad he chose a career field in high demand right now.

"As people are retiring from the repair and construction field, then new people have to take that spot," he said. "Say, machines take over the universe, somebody has to fix the machines. They're all going to run on hydraulics. It's not in the near future, but maybe someday."

Lakeview sophomore Alex Lenz said he leaned more toward the mechanical fields as well.

"I like more of the (Action) Trackchair sort of things," he said.

Lenz was also among the many students who tried out the SMSU Wellness and Human Performance Center that was supervised by exercise science major Hunter Brooks.

Marshall sophomore Zechariah Bergjord said he enjoyed the Career Expo.

"I've seen a lot of different things and learned a lot of different stuff," Bergjord said. "My favorites were a bunch of booths that offered me different things. I also liked learning about apprenticeships."

Most of the exhibits had some type of take-home information available. In addition to handing out helpful college information, Wells Fargo representatives Peggy Zwach and Amy Mahlberg played a question and answer style of Jenga with students, including Tracy Area juniors Austin Axford, Anthony Axford and Derek Van Dam.

"We're giving out step-by-step guides for college planning," Mahlberg said. "They're also getting a little financial education."

In addition to the two growing career fields, students had the chance to engage with exhibitors in the areas of business, management and administration, ag, food and natural resources, arts, communication and information systems and human services.