Eagle Scout helps Good Samaritan
by TJ Johns,
Senior Editor
___________________________________________________________________________
If you were, or someone in your family was, ever part of the Boy Scouts of America, you are familiar with the Scout Oath. That oath begins, “On my honor I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country, and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times…” More than 1.7 million Boy Scouts have fulfilled the oath since 1911 to obtain the ultimate rank of Eagle Scout. This elite group represents only about five percent of all Boy Scouts.
From left: Dr. Larry Hornsby, Tyler Law at the Good
Samaritan Health Center in Cobb County, GA
One of the final stages in earning the rank of Eagle Scout is to plan, develop, and lead others in a service project that will be helpful to his community. Many candidates build swings for parks or construct nature trails; one candidate gave miniature American flags to our troops. In each case, the scout looks for an area of great need in the community.
Recently, Eagle Scout candidate Tyler Law saw a need at a local health care facility.
Good Samaritan Health Center of Cobb, in Marietta, Georgia, provides a comprehensive range of services for patients without health insurance or the means to afford care. The facility is comprised of eight exam rooms and one nurse’s station. Outside each exam room, a color-coded flagging system is mounted to indicate the type procedure requested by the doctor for the patient. Due to the layout of the building, the nurse is unable to see each room from the nurse’s station.
Seeing the need to improve the way nurses are notified, doctors began looking at different notification systems on the market. Since the health care center is nonprofit, an estimate of $22,000 for an automated system was out of the question. Tyler saw the need to replace the flagging system and had an idea for a color-coded illuminated indicator system for less money.
Dr. Larry Hornsby, Medical Director at Good Samaritan Health Center of Cobb states, “Showing God’s love by providing quality care for our patients is a leading standard of excellence here at Good Samaritan. The lighting system project Tyler created [will help] fulfill this part of our mission statement by increasing the efficiency of appointments [for] our physicians, nurses and interpreters.”
Tyler presented the idea behind his service project to AutomationDirect’s Industrial Components product manager, Lenny Filipkowski. “During the meeting it was very evident that Tyler was a driven young man. He had put together a project that was out of his comfort zone but felt the benefits far outweighed the difficulties he would encounter along the way,” Lenny commented.
From left: Lenny Filipkowski, Tyler Law and Kirk Maasen
discuss details of the project
With design help from his engineering mentor, Kirk Maassen, and installation help from fellow Scouts, and friends, Tyler designed and implemented the controls. The 24V system, powered by a RHINO power supply, consists of a series of four indicators, in a non-metallic enclosure, mounted outside each exam room. Each indicator is wired to a main indicator panel located in the nurse’s station.
With the new system in place, the doctor activates one of the color-coded indicators from the patient’s examining room. A corresponding indicator will then activate at the nurse’s station, informing her of which procedure is requested in which room. Upon completion of the procedure, the indicator is deactivated from the examining room.
On the main indicator panel, an additional enclosure is equipped with three indicators to alert the nurses of waiting patients. When a patient arrives, the receptionist activates the white indicator. Depending on which doctor the patient will see, either the red or blue indicator is then activated.
The nursing staff at Good Samaritan Health Center of Cobb now works more efficiently because of the installation of the new illuminated indicator system. Operations Manager Emily Jones exclaims, “The entire clinical staff is thrilled to have the new system in place. Our traffic flow is much smoother and we can provide an even better experience for our patients. It is especially helpful when we have our volunteer doctors in-house. This proficient system helps us train them more quickly and see even more patients. Tyler and his team were quick witted and kind-hearted as they spent many hours refining exactly what we needed to make it perfect for our center.”
When asked how this project impacted Tyler, he replied, “From a leadership standpoint, this project taught me about the importance of giving a good example for those you are instructing and being what you want them to be. I also began to understand that leadership is more about giving to those who follow you than just being the guy who gives instructions.
From a technical standpoint, I learned that it is very important to plan ahead, and
measure twice and only cut once!”
To learn more about Good Samaritan Health Center of Cobb, visit: www.goodsamcobb.org
__________________________________________________________________
Links to the current issue of Automation Notebook are found below.
Click the Back Issues link to visit the archives.
Back to Application Stories
