Blog 10: Senior Project Update

I volunteered/observed for a day at a veterinarian hospital near my house. They are still trying to get through some liability issues so that I can permanently volunteer there. I am volunteering at the cattery at PetCo. While I was volunteering at the vet clinic, I was able to interview the vet there and she was able to give me a lot of contacts at Western University in Pomona.  
See photo from previous blog... 

Project Update!

Last Saturday I got the incredible opportunity to volunteer at an animal hospital near my house called Family Dog & Cat Hospital. They actually had to preform an emergency surgery on a one year old Bulldog named Whiskey. Whiskey came in with a swollen shoulder that had been getting progressively worse for the past three months. Dr. Garcia thought it was a foreign body embedded in his shoulder and thought it mandatory to go into surgery given that Whiskey's temperature was rather high.
The staff got Whiskey all prepped for surgery and allowed me to insert his catheter for IV fluids and anesthesia. Dr. Garcia even let me make the first cut!! It was only a couple inches, but still pretty awesome none the less.
Once we got Whiskey's shoulder open, we discovered that there was no foreign body in his shoulder. There was just a huge mass of inflamed fat and dead tissue. Dr. Garcia ended up making an incision site that was 10 inches long and 6 inches wide. That's how far out the inflammation had spread. Dr. Garcia removed all the of inflamed fat and dead tissue and set some aside to preform a culture on it.
The surgery itself lasted an hour and a half plus another half an hour to close up the incision site and set a tube in place for draining. Dr. Garcia's diagnoses for Whiskey ended up being chronic inflammation in the right shoulder. That was the most generic way of describing what was going on without being able to conduct further research.


These are pictures of Whiskey while he was being prepped for his surgery.

The tubes you see on the right hand side are the breathing tubes that Whiskey was hooked up to during the surgery. The yellow box on the table next to him monitored his blood oxygen levels and heart rate. The blood oxygen level had to stay above 94 or else he wouldn't be getting enough oxygen to support him. If that happened, the veterinarian technician would have to manually pump on air bag attached to the breathing machine to get the blood oxygen level back to a safe number.

This picture gives you a better view of the inflammation on Whiskey's right shoulder. That little red bump is where blood was actually dripping out when he came into the clinic. The incision site was originally going to be limited to the area around the bump, but ended up spreading to his entire shoulder and part of his stomach. It basically covered the whole shaved area. 

Blog 5b: Science Fair Proposal

1. LIfeguarding

2. How to effectively tread water while preforming a rescue in deep water. 

"Any sort of movement that allows the swimmer to do this can be classified as treading water, but it is more efficient to move the arms and legs in a specific fashion." 

"Treading Water." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Oct. 2012. Web. 05 Nov. 2012.

Drowning non-swimmers often splash and kick in an effort to stay above the surface but their lack of technique along with shortness of breath and the panic factor make this a very ineffective method of treading water. They will usually tire quickly and not be able to stay above the surface very long.

More experienced swimmers often find their own method of staying above the surface. These techniques often involve sculling, flutter kick, and other unofficial techniques of staying above the surface.

3. If a lifeguard uses the breast stroke form of treading water, then they will be able to more effectively hold themselves and the victim above of the water. 

4. To preform this experiment, I will go to my local YMCA and conduct an experiment using the lifeguards that work at the facility. They will be required to tread water for 3 minutes holding a 10 pound brick. They will do the experiment with each type of treading water, flutter kick, breast stroke kick, and the frog kick. The experiment will be conducted in heats by the method of treading water so that the lifeguards can have a couple minutes to rest. I am unsure how many lifeguards I will be conducting this experiment on because I have yet to see how many are willing to participate, but I do have permission from the YMCA to use their facility. 

5. Physics

Blog 9: Working EQ and Possible Answers

Essential Question:

When performing a rescue, is it best to remove the victim from where the incident occurred or leave them there and continue care?

I haven't decided to revise my EQ yet, but I am currently working on some other  questions. 

Possible Answers:

During a rescue, it is best to leave the victim at the scene of the incident because moving them could cause more injury and also spread blood and other bodily fluids around the facility.

A victim should be moved from the scene of the incident only if the surroundings prove to be a threat to both the lifeguard and victim. 

Blog 8: 10 Minute Presentation Plan

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OhgwzNI2IA91zUQG9iJEePz70vizhXAe7liaAYIOn1w/edit

Blog 7: Independent Component 1 Plan Approval

1. I already took a life guarding class through the American Red Cross Association at the El Monte Aquatic Center. I passed the course and I am now certified as a lifeguard and in first aid, CPR, AED, and in water park safety. 

2. The class was 27 hours in total. I plan on either becoming a lifeguard or JR. guard to fulfill the rest of the required hours. 

3. The life guarding class I took directly correlates to my EQ because it taught me the essentials of being a life guard. 

Blog 6: Second Interview Questions

Questions: 

• Who hires all the life guards?
• How is he qualified to determine who would be a good life guard? 
• Where did you earn your life guarding certification?
• How long have you been working as a life guard?
• How often do you take review courses to brush up on new procedures?
• What is the most difficult part of your job?

Blog 4: Working EQ

Although I really wanted to do therapy dogs as my senior project, I have found a topic that would better help me in the future. That's why I decided to switch my topic to life guarding. I have always had a passion for swimming and helping others, so this fits the bill perfectly. The only down fall is that now I have to find new research and a new mentorship, but I have already been able to put in a considerable amount of hours for a life guarding that I took a couple weekends ago. 

The life guarding certification class that I took has really helped me to acquire a sense of accomplishment and security. I now feel that if I were to be put into a situation where someones life was at risk, I would be able to help that person and possibly save their life. The part of the training that really opened up my eyes to how tough life guarding can be was the practical training. In practical training we had to go in the water and actually preform various rescues on each other. The deep water spinal rescues are by far the hardest and most nerve racking. For that kind of rescue, you have to stabilize that victims neck and spine so as to not cause any further damage all why treading water and securing them to a spinal board. It's a lot of work, but it gave me more respect for life guards. 

I can't give an honest answer as to what has worked for me so far because I have just barely switched my topic, but hopefully I'll be able to get a position as a life guard at a local pool. That would definitely work for me. What hasn't worked is of course the fact that I have decided to change topics, but I think it will work out for the better in the long run. 

Questions:

• How do you give out warnings to patrons without being rude or unkind?
• What other ways are there of preforming spinal rescues?
• Is it possible to give CPR and other life saving actions for a spinal victim in deep water?
• What is the best way to maintain a professional demeanor at work while still maintaining a team like atmosphere?

My end goal would definitely be to secure a job as a life guard and also to obtain an instructors certification so that I can teach swim lessons. 

I think it would be really interesting to talk to someone who has actually been helped by a life guard. Maybe someone who suffered a spinal injury in the pool, but with the help of the lifeguards, sustained no further injuries and is perfectly okay now. That would be a really difficult interview to set up because of confidentiality rules, but none the less, i think that would be a really good interview. 

Blog 5a: Problem Statement

Life guarding 

Problems:

• preforming CPR on deep water spinal victims
• more effective spinal injury rescues
• better spine boards
• ways to communicate with unruly patrons
• more effective way to tread water while preforming a deep water rescue

What to do with solutions:

• hold an in service with fellow lifeguards
• create flyers to pass out to different aquatic centers with information regarding life guarding techniques
• contact American Red Cross instructor and share findings with her so that she can use them for future classes

Blog 3: Interview Preparation

1. I have emailed several therapy dog organizations about shadowing one of their groups for a day and then asking my interview questions. I have yet to get a response so far. These are the organizations I have emailed: Love On 4 Paws, BARK, Paws 4 Healing, Pawsitive Effects, and Pet Prescription Team. Although the people apart of these organizations are the people that would be ideal to interview, my back up plan is to interview my dog trainer from the class I took at PetCo this summer.

2. Additional Questions:
What is your grooming regiment for your dog? How do you keep them from shedding in the hospitals?
Is there a specific breed that is ideal for the role of a therapy dog?
In your opinion, what is the most rewarding aspect of training a therapy dog and taking them on visits to hospitals and schools?
How long have you been training dogs?
What is the average amount of commands a dog can learn?
What is the best training method for dogs?
How big of an impact do you think diet has on a dogs personality?


Contact Info
Nikki Citwin (626) 215-5115
Dog Trainer, PetCo

Blog 2: Topic Choice

Originally, I wanted to do my senior project on veterinarian medicine, but I couldn't find a vet clinic that would let me volunteer because I'm under the age of 18. That was the initial reason I decided to train a therapy dog instead. Another deciding factor that pushed me to chose therapy dogs as a topic is the fact that I've always aspired to train my dog to become one. This just seemed like the perfect opportunity to finally get the ball rolling. 
By the end of this, I hope to have gotten certified to be a therapy dog handler and to also have Jasper become a certified therapy dog. 
Becoming certified relates to me improving as an i-Poly citizen because I would be helping to better other peoples lives and be exploring a whole new path in life. Once I'm certified, I will be able to go to various hospitals, convalescent homes, and even to libraries so that the patients and children will be able to interact with Jasper. By doing this, I think I will become a better communicator because I will be exposing myself to a series of different people who have come from different paths of life. Initially, I'll be going on the outings with other groups of people and also with my mentor. Being able to just stand back and observe how my mentor interacts with the patients will help me to become a more effective learner due to the fact that I will have to grasp a different way of learning. Instead of jumping straight into hospital visits, I'll have to slow down and take things one by one. In all honesty, my topic doesn't have a whole to teach me about technology. Although, having to make spreadsheets for the mentorship log and bibliography will most likely in the end help me to become more organized. 

Blog 1: Summer Mentorship Component

Contact Information

Nickol Citwin 

(626) 215-5115

Literal (Need to know)   

Mentorship Log

• How do you get a dog to focus on you even in stressful and hectic situations? 
• What are the advantages to positive reinforcement compared to negative reinforcement?
• Can a dog really be trained out of a traumatic experience such as abuse?
• Are certain breeds of dogs just not capable of being trained to have a stable disposition?
• Do some breeds instinctively know certain behaviors such as walking on a loose leash or sitting while waiting?

Interpretive

     I learned so many things from going through the AKC Canine Good Citizen Program that it's kind of difficult to pin point just one thing. I learned how to properly execute a command which is really crucial when training a dog. I also learned how to train a dog out of its fears. Although, the most important thing I learned is actually how to treat a dog properly. Lots of owners give their dogs treats for no reason, what they don't realize is that the treat is actually something that is supposed to be highly valued and should only be given when the dog does something you wanted them to do. Treating is probably one of the greatest tools for training. 

Applied

    Going through this program really opened my eyes to just how smart my dog Jasper is. It's really solidified my want to train him to become a therapy dog because once he is more trained, he would bring a lot of joy into some patients lives. The other reason why this experience has encouraged me to train a therapy dog is because I find the whole process of training extremely rewarding. It's a truly amazing experience to see that light spark in your dogs eyes when they finally learn a new command. I have also seen a huge change in Jasper. He is more willing to learn, almost as if he likes learning new things.