CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. (WNCT) – Nearly 200 local students attended a STEM Fair at Naval Hospital Camp Lejeune Thursday.

They experienced a number of different career fields within the medical community and came in contact with a number of hands-on stations.

“This is part of our community outreach to engage students to show how those topics, science, technology, engineering and mathematics are part of what we do want on a daily basis,” Lt. Garret Hand said.

NHCL’s STEM program is focused mostly on the science and technology available in Navy Medicine today and the fair allowed them to interact with hospital staff. Students experienced Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) where corpsmen demonstrated basic life-saving medical interventions while under simulated combat conditions.

“Most people can’t visualize something by just reading it, so having this experience for them is the best thing they can do,” HM-1 Lisette Cadiente said.

There was also a decontamination station where corpsmen demonstrated response for hazardous diseases and materials.

“It’s something really nice to see because I know if I don’t go into something that’s women dominated, if I go into something that’s mainly male dominated, I’m going to have people who have my back here,” Caylei Hunt, a senior at Richlands High School, said.

The goal of the program is to attract more youth to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and math.

“I can plan my classes for high school and it lets me know this is what I want to do,” River-Allen Carroll-Wilson, an 8th grader at Swansboro Middle School said. “It prepares me for my next 70 years.”

Other events at the fair included:

  • Biomedical Engineering – Experts showed the students how various medical equipment works.
  • Point of Care Laboratory Testing – Students performed controlled tests and learned how the equipment works at a basic level.
  • Sim Lab – Students experienced how Robotic adult and child patient training aids are used to simulate medical emergencies and see real-time effects of medical decisions.

The hospital is looking to create a STEM symposium featuring it’s technology for students this summer.