Peyton Lewis holds a certificate of excellence signifying her recognition as a respiratory therapy finalist from the HOSA International Leadership Conference last month, where she placed 10th in her category. “That’s just a big accomplishment because I wasn't expecting it at all,” she said. (Submitted Photo)
Peyton Lewis had a change of heart after initially steering clear of respiratory therapy and trying a “bunch of different things” relating to health care, like CPR and first aid training.
“My whole family is in the health care field,” said Lewis, HOSA: Future Health Professionals member and OCHS senior. “Nothing was really clicking for me, but when I started working on the respiratory therapy side, it ended up working really well.”
She finished 10th overall out of about 60 respiratory therapy students at the HOSA International Leadership Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, last month.
“That’s just a big accomplishment because I wasn’t expecting it at all,” she said. “Every time (my teacher Erin Bunch) brings students (to the competition), not a lot of them even make it to the second round.”
Lewis said her first round presentation was in front of a panel of three judges and described how respiratory therapists play a role in asthma management, like showing patients how to properly use an inhaler.
“Coming from somebody that does have asthma, they play a really big role in it, and that really got the judges intrigued in my presentation,” said Lewis, whose father Jason was the director of the Oglethorpe County EMS before becoming county administrator this spring.
She and roughly 25 other high school students advanced to the second round of the competition to demonstrate technical skills at a local school in the area.
Lewis said she demonstrated how to put on personal protective equipment like gloves, a gown and a mask and when to give a patient a breathing treatment.
Each participant that placed within the top 10 was recognized on stage and received a certificate of achievement and finalist pin, said Bunch, who is the HOSA adviser and OCHS health care sciences teacher.
“I was really excited for her,” she said. “Peyton is a very hard worker (and) really put a lot of time and effort into her competition, and it’s something she’s passionate about.”
To be invited to the international competition, Lewis placed first out of about 30 competitors during the state conference in March.
“I really didn’t expect to win because earlier that year I was in the hospital having medical issues, so I didn’t have time for it,” she said. “A lot of different states have already had it for a good amount of years, but it was kind of cool being the first winner for (the) state.”
A three-year competitor with HOSA, Lewis said the international conference gave her a “foot in the door” to the healthcare field and she hopes to compete next year.
“I think that a lot of people should try to aim for that to be their goal because it’s something that not a lot of people get to experience,” she said. “And it’s really fun.”