Family Fest screenings could be life saving

As the title sponsor for the 31st annual Greer Family Fest, Pelham Medical Center does not take its role lightly.

The hospital will have more than 128 staff members manning the largest tent during the two-day festival, offering health care screenings, community education, and kids’ activities--and possibly saving lives in the process.

“We’re excited and we’re working hard. It takes a lot of planning and coordination to get us to the point that we’re ready to go,” said Toni Conner, registered nurse and community education and outreach coordinator for Pelham Medical Center.

“We feel like this is a great opportunity for us to interact with members of the community to help them to learn more about their health…We feel like an educated community–an educated person–as far as their health goes, does a better job of taking care of themselves. That’s what we’re there to do–to help people live a healthier life and handle the problems that come up.”

Pelham Medical Center has sponsored the festival for eight years, providing free blood pressure screenings, body mass index (BMI) screenings and skin cancer screenings to the community through the Health Zone tent.

The services are making a difference. According to Conner, 49 individuals were screened for skin cancer during last year’s festival resulting in seven patients with positive skin lesions identified for follow-up testing with a dermatologist. The blood pressure checks have been equally beneficial.

Conner recalls one man who was reluctant to participate in the screenings with his family members. He relented and was found to have an extremely high blood pressure. The staff talked to the man about the importance of knowing his numbers and encouraged him to have the skin cancer screening as well where they found two lesions.

“His wife came by later that afternoon and said ‘Thank you so much. I feel like you saved my husband’s life today.’ For me that was worth a million dollars to feel that we had actually impacted somebody. I never saw them again and I never heard how things went with him. My hope is that he got that taken care of…and hopefully it changed his health for the future,” Conner said.

Ask a Doc
Pelham Medical Center is bringing back some popular activities as well as introducing new ones to this year’s event.

In addition to the screenings, the booth will offer games and information, nutritional guidelines, velocity training, and diabetes risk assessment.

Volunteers from the ER staff will once again man the MASH tent at Creation Station, allowing children to get fake bandages, wear splints, and get slings.

“Last year it was a huge success. It’s a fun thing that we’re looking forward to doing,” Conner said. “Relationship building and one-on-one contact with the community is so important…It’s a way for us to get to know them and say you don’t have to be afraid. There’s going to be people to take care of you when you need it and there’s people here today to help you today to have a fun time.”

New this year will be a CPR training class and “Ask a Doc” sessions.

The CPR training will be offered on Saturday from 1-3 p.m. and is open to people of any age. The chest compression-only method can be learned in 10 minutes.

“It’s a fun, musical way to learn…We’ll be able to, hopefully, teach a lot of people how to save a life,” Conner said.

“Ask a Doc” will be an informal opportunity for festival-goers to engage in conversation with physicians in different specialties. An emergency room doctor will be available Friday from 7-8 p.m.; an oncologist from Gibbs Cancer Center will answer questions Saturday from 1-2 p.m.; and an internal medicine physician will conclude the session Saturday from 3-4 p.m.

The Pelham Medical Center tent will be located near the food vendors in Greer City Park. The mobile mammography unit, which is used for skin cancer screenings, will be set up along the road near the tent Saturday from 10 a.m.-2 p.m.

“We are honored to be a part of this event,” Conner said. “It is a wonderful opportunity for us to have a chance to meet and get to know the community members better, but also to help educate them on staying healthy and taking care of problems that they may have.”

Pelham Medical Center Health Zone

Friday, May 1 • 6-10 pm
ER Department: Games and Information
ER docs to answer your questions
Body Mass Index checks
Learn about Volunteer Services

Saturday, May 2 • 10 am-2 pm
Learn about the Gibbs Cancer Center at Pelham
Free screening for Skin Cancer 10 a.m.-1 p.m.
Talk to the mammogram specialists
Diabetes Risk Assessments
-Portion Control and “Rethink your Drink” displays
Body Mass Index checks

Saturday, May 2 • 2-6 pm
Join Pelham Medical Center Imaging Services  
Learn CPR 1-3 p.m.
Ask a Doc panel 3-4 p.m.
Velocity training
Learn about joining us as a volunteer

Throughout the Festival    
Free Blood Pressure Screening

jholcombe@greercitizen.com | 877-2076