Analysis of 15 years of emergency service interaction with schools

For 15 years without interruption, the emergency department of the Hospital Clínic de Barcelona has been holding annual educational sessions for students in their last year of obligatory secondary school. The sessions are organized in collaboration with 3 other entities: the primary care center affiliated with the hospital and serving the area and adjacent to it (THE CAPSBE), the city's emergency ambulance service, and the University of Barcelona. Each year the session lasts 4 hours and covers such content as the organization of the city's emergency medical care (at primary care centers, in prehospital settings, and at the hospital) and the main reasons adolescents require emergency care (related to drugs, traffic accidents, psychiatric disorders, eating disorders, and gynecologic problems). The project seeks to develop the students' sense of social responsibility and to transfer knowledge to the community where the organizers carry out their usual work. The sessions are educational, providing key information intended to encourage individual reflection as well as debate in the student community outside of school hours. A total of 56 secondary schools and 12 260 students between the ages of 15 and 18 years old have participated thus far. This article presents a basic outline of the sessions, reports feedback from the students and their teachers, and analyzes whether there have been significant changes in their opinions over time. Our purpose is to provide information useful to other emergency health services that might consider starting similar programs in which they can interact with their community schools.