- March 16, 2025
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Horizon High School students gathered around the Orlando Health Air Care 5 helicopter on the helipad at Orlando Health — Horizon West Hospital and listened as Air Care team members shared their experiences.
One student asked what has been the longest trip team member Angel Rios-Peña has been on in the helicopter?
He talked about his trip to provide emergency assistance in Panama City, which took three hours.
“At least you didn’t have to deal with traffic,” senior Bella Craven said.
Craven and her classmates went on to explore the rest of the Air Care 5 team’s helicopter during a monthly trip to Horizon West Hospital as part of the school’s partnership with Orlando Health for the Project Lead the Way Biomedical program.
Once per month, Orlando Health representatives visit the high school to give a lecture to all the biomedical program students. Also once per month, about 40 juniors and seniors in the program visit Orlando Health — Horizon West Hospital to participate in a simulation and receive hands-on experience with various departments.
Lauren Cardona, associate chief operating officer at Orlando Health, said the hospital system’s goal with the partnership is to provide students with awareness of health care roles, both clinical and non-clinical, and expose them to health care through simulations.
“Our ultimate goal in the end is that these students will choose to work in health care, and we’ll see them in the near future as Orlando Health team members,” Cardona said. “They are our future. They’re our future workforce. … This is a good opportunity to see what we do in the hospital and spark some interest.”
Graig Smith, a biomedical teacher at Horizon High, said the partnership with Orlando Health allows students to see the plethora of career paths students could take in the health care field.
“We always think of a hospital like ‘Grey’s Anatomy,’ where it’s a doctor, surgeon or nurse,” Smith said. “It’s all of these other options and seeing that you don’t have to be that doctor, surgeon or nurse even though a lot of them are striving for that at this point. A lot of them find things they enjoy that they didn’t know existed. It becomes a new career track for them.”
On Wednesday, Feb. 12, students had perfect timing as they walked out of the Horizon West Hospital doors to watch the Air Care team land the helicopter. The students stood in awe as the helicopter touched down on the helipad.
Each visit to Horizon West Hospital gives students an opportunity to hear directly from the professionals in the field in their respective environments.
“(The partnership) is above and beyond anything we ever imagined,” Smith said. “I would have never thought we’d be here with an actual helicopter. They’re all like being inside of a toy store. They’re getting to see the real materials, headsets, seats, everything.”
The students then split into two groups. One went to the helicopter to hear from the Air Care Unit, while the other group went to speak with firefighters and paramedics from Orange County Fire Rescue Station 48. The firefighters and paramedics brought a fire truck and ambulance.
The emergency responders talked about their equipment, their responsibilities, what their days look like, why they love their jobs and more.
“It is a really crazy, exciting job,” said Lt. Eric Dudley, of Orange County Fire Rescue Station 48. “Usually the calls are for people experiencing difficulty breathing or chest pains, but at any moment or time of day, it could be a crazy call.”
Senior Chandana Hemakumar said hearing first-hand from the Air Care Unit and the firefighters and paramedics about their daily lives showed the students their jobs are not easy, but it has fed into her desire to work in emergency medicine while she’s in college.
“There’s nowhere you can get more hands-on, more fast-paced experience and see as much as you can than in EMS,” she said. “I think what these guys have done is really inspiring.”
During trips to Horizon West Hospital, students have been able to visit the intensive care unit, imaging, a respiratory therapist and more.
Senior Rashmitha Bathina was impressed when the students had the opportunity to see the Lund University Cardiopulmonary Assist System, which is a mechanical chest compression system that helps perform CPR on patients in cardiac arrest.
The LUCAS was one of several pieces of equipment and technology students were able to see and learn about the impact it could have in saving or improving lives.
Students in the biomedical program have a passion for medicine and the health care field.
Bathina said she’s always been enamored with the science of discovery as well as the ability to help people and make a difference in others’ lives.
“(The program) is preparing us for the future and our involvement in medicine and our careers,” Bathina said. “It has helped us build networks and connections with professionals and learn more about what we’re interested in.”
Hemakumar said if she hadn’t participated in the program, she wouldn’t have been able to experience the vastness of the medical field.
“Our program is kind of highlighting the underrated parts in the field that we didn’t even know existed, so coming to Orlando Health and experiencing all of these things as high schoolers kind of lights up all of those light bulbs in our brains,” she said. “It makes us really excited to go forth and learn about all these things in college and in our future.”
