Candy stripers will soon be back on duty at Blanchard Valley Hospital.
The program, which was suspended during COVID, has been reinstated, said Heather Schalk, volunteer services manager for Blanchard Valley Health System.
"Now we're trying to ramp it back up," she said.
Schalk is looking for at least five high school students to get the program started, with a limit of 20 at a time.
"We find that this age group does better volunteering together, so we have up to four of them come each day at a specific time and do their tasks," she said.
Schalk said they will have an established list of jobs to perform throughout the hospital.
"Some of their tasks have changed (since COVID)," she said. "They used to replenish our apples. We had apples everywhere. We can't have that anymore. That was one of their main duties so we had to be really creative with how to fill and make their time worthy."
In obstetrics, for example, the students will make and distribute milkshakes to patients. On patient floors, tasks will range from making up supply kits, replenishing the supply room, distributing water and visiting with patients.
"Not all of our patients have visitors, so some of them look forward to that 4 p.m. hour when the candy stripers come, just to have somebody to talk to," Schalk said. "That's part of their role, too. And that's a great social skill. Any young person who can walk into a stranger's room and start up a conversation, those are good skills and that helps them prepare for anything."
At registration in the Center for Diagnostic Studies, candy stripers will clean iPads and wheelchairs, wipe down computer stations in the interview rooms and sanitize waiting room chairs. In the emergency room, they'll replenish the linen warmer with blankets and stock each patient room with supplies and linen.
Schalk said she's hopefully that more tasks will evolve with time.
Program history
The national program got its start in 1942 due to staff shortages during World War II. One of those hospitals, located in Evanston, Illinois, had a shortage of nurses and needed people to serve trays and feel handicapped patients, according to Margaret B. Armstrong, one of the program's original founders.
"We had about fourteen older and efficient teenagers working in our supply department at that time. I wondered why I couldn't give these girls special training and put them in a uniform in which would identify them as 'tray girls.' This we did and it proved to be the answer to our great need," she wrote in a letter dated Oct. 17, 1966.
Armstrong gave the girls the opportunity to pick the material for their pinafores, and they chose red and white stripes.
"Almost at once a patient said, 'Where is my Candy Striper tonight?' Little did he dream that his remark would be so instrumental in our choosing the name of 'Candy Stripers' for these girls,'" wrote Armstrong.
The program came to Findlay in the 1950s, according to Schalk's records. And while female teens have traditionally been candy stripers in the past, the program is now open to any high school age volunteer interested in a medical career.
Schalk explained that a core group will be trained. They in turn will train new volunteers as they come into the program since they'll be working together. Volunteers pick which weekday works best for them, and they volunteer on that day each week, she said.
"And we do provide a great amount of flexibility in the program. So if you're a soccer player, you can volunteer for this period of time. And as soon as they go off, there's typically a waiting list so it's just always a revolving door," she said.
The attendance policy requires no more than three missed times within a 60-day period.
Any high school-aged teen interested in volunteering as a candy striper should fill out the online application that can be found through the BVHS website. Volunteers must provide proof that they've been vaccinated for COVID. A reference is also required, said Schalk.