Virtual Field Trips for Orlando Health
If the kids can’t come to Orlando Health, let’s bring Orlando Health to the kids!
Late in the summer of 2020, it became clear that Florida schools were not going to be doing in-person classes due to the sharply rising numbers of Covid-19 infections.
Our client and long-time friend Bridget Keefe, Corporate Director of Community Relations at Orlando Health, reached out to us. Students who would normally be leaving school to go on field trips to tour the hospital’s various innovative facilities would be spending the semester remote-learning at home, on their computers, logging in to Zoom calls.
So Bridget’s idea was to bring the Orlando Health field trips to the students, online, to provide an interesting break from their regular classwork. She asked Macbeth Studio to bring our child-like curiosity to the project, and use our state-of-the-art filmmaking expertise to create 3 short films highlighting some of their most innovative and note-worthy capabilities — especially those that would be most interesting to kids from elementary to high school ages.
So with Bridget and other team members guiding us, we tackled this fun and educational project with the spirit of, “what would I have wanted to know when I was in school?”
Following are the three videos we created. (We hope there are more to come!)
Air Care Team
Our first assignment was to visit the helipad atop Orlando Health’s building in South Downtown Orlando. After a safety briefing, we watched on remote cameras as the chopper lifted off from its Sanford base, and within a few minutes, we heard it arriving over the downtown hospital. After landing, the crew got out and showed us around.
We interviewed each of the three team members individually, about their specific areas of expertise, and then got to go for a short ride in the helicopter to film the experience from their perspective.
The Air Care Team was really great to work with, and it’s clear they love what they do.
Rehab Center
Next up, we visited Orlando Health’s Rehab Center, where several specialists showed us their areas of expertise, as they help people literally get back on their feed after a serious injury or operation.
We got to see an “exoskeleton” robot that helps people learn to stand and walk again, a rig that hangs from the ceiling to help them build strength and confidence, and an electrical stimulator that helps patients re-learn important skills such as brushing their teeth and feeding themselves.
The team in the Rehab Center clearly loves what they do, and getting to help people regain their independence is a pretty good way to make a living.
Robotic Surgery
When we first heard that we were going to watch a robot perform surgery, we weren’t sure what to expect.
Turns out that the robots aren’t taking away the jobs of skilled surgeons any time soon.
Instead, the robot allows the surgeon to perform operations more quickly, more comfortably, more accurately, and with much smaller incisions (and therefore faster healing times).
The precision of the movements in the skilled hands of an experienced surgeon was truly incredible to witness.
How did we do?
We asked Bridget about her experience working with the Macbeth Studio team, and here’s what she told us:
“Orlando Health Community Relations was thrilled to work with Macbeth Studio to produce a series of virtual field trips as part of the School Ready initiative. The Macbeth team brought a level of professionalism, inquisitiveness and pure fun that is hard to come by in a video production group. The end product was so much more than we could have imagined and the videos were a big hit with the elementary students (and the teachers!). We were so grateful to have such wonderfully creative and thoughtful partners to help us make this idea come to life for our local schools.”
What’s next?
We hope that you, and the kids who have been stuck at home on their laptops all day, enjoyed watching them as much as we enjoyed making them.
We are hopeful that we can make some more of these entertaining and educational films in the future.
CREDITS:
Filmed by Morgan Walker and Jim Hobart
Edited by Morgan Walker and Mike Rawls
Produced by Bridget O’Keefe and Jackie Dolan