Gig Harbor High School senior Jordan Kirk is determined to become an emergency room nurse. She is undaunted by the intensity and trauma.

The 17-year-old recalled an incident at school when she jumped in to help when others might have been squeamish.

“We were out filming for a school project when one of the students fell down a hill and split his eyebrow,” she said. “No one was helping him. He had blood streaming down his face. So I went over. He had to have stitches, but his eye was OK.”

Kirk also has support from her parents, Kindra and Jas, the latter of whom is retired following a 25-year law enforcement career.

“She grew up surrounded by public servants ... first responders,” Kindra said of her daughter. “Ambulances and aid cars just don’t intimidate her.”

Jordan attributes her response to her dad.

“She was always curious as to how I kept things from getting to me in my line of work,” he said. “You have to have a shutdown mechanism to keep you objective and focused. It becomes a whole different scenario when it involves your loved ones.”

Last May, Jordan began the process of applying to become a volunteer at St. Anthony Hospital. She began to work on the acute care floor last July. She’ll need to be 18 before she can work in the emergency department.

Jackie Morin, volunteer coordinator at St. Anthony, said she’s proud of Jordan.

“Jordan provides the extra special touch to patients’ stays,” Morin said. “She represents the human side of kindness and attention. She embodies the essence of our philosophy at St. Anthony’s.”

When it became time to decide what to do to raise funds for the hospital for her senior project, Jordan met with Carol Arjo, who is on the auxiliary board at St. Anthony. They discussed toy duck races and putt-putt golf, but the one idea that struck Jordan was making blankets.

“I had made a Mariners blanket for my uncle who was fighting brain cancer,” Jordan said. “Every time I went to see him, he was holding it. He has it in every picture. Now my grandmother has it.”

During the same time, another of her dad’s brothers was diagnosed with cancer.

Jordan needed to raise funds for the materials, so she sent a letter to friends and family members.

“The response was overwhelming,” Kindra said.

“I got so many personal handwritten messages from people who had experienced family members being sick,” Jordan added.

When Joanne’s Fabrics in Tacoma learned about the project, it reduced the cost of the material. Jordan and Arjo enlisted the help of Girl Scouts and the 4H Club to help out. They also sponsored a Mother-and-Daughter event for the cause.

“Everyone makes their own personalized tag for the blanket they made,” Jordan said.

She and her mom worked on those tags on a quiet Christmas afternoon.

“We probably had 180 tags to work on,” Kindra said. “Jordan decided she wanted to head to the hospital and give some of the blankets away for Christmas.”

It was an opportunity for Jordan to come face-to-face with patients.

“Some of them were unable to talk, but I was able to wish them a Merry Christmas and give them a gift,” she said.

“What is so impressive is that a 17-year-old took on a project that affects the hearts and minds of people she might never know,” Morin said. “The passion of this high school girl is humbling.”