NORTHFIELD — Fifteen years ago, Dickinson Memorial Library Director Deb Kern met with representatives from Baystate Franklin Medical Center, hoping to find a way for community members to connect with hospital staff.
“We were just throwing ideas around (and asking ourselves) ‘How can we get the community to connect with the hospital?’” Kern said.
The result was “Blood and Guts,” an interactive science fair where children of all ages could learn about nutrition, germs and infection control, radiology, speech and hearing, emergency medicine and the respiratory system.
Since 2001, when the event began at Dickinson Memorial Library, it’s been held once or twice a year at local libraries and elementary schools. Friday night, “Blood and Guts” returned to Dickinson Memorial Library for the first time in years, attracting a crowd of more than 100 adults and children. “It’s amazing to me that all these years later it has a life of its own,” Kern said of the event. “I’m very proud of that.”
“Blood and Guts” featured six booths where children could listen to their heartbeat with a stethoscope and learn about anatomy, how much oxygen is in their blood, and the quantities of fat and sugar in certain foods. The booths were run by representatives from Baystate Franklin Medical Center and students from Greenfield Community College and Holyoke Community College.
Matt Atwood, programming librarian at Dickinson Memorial Library, said Baystate Franklin Medical Center holds the event at the library “to educate and do community service.”
“We thought it would be great to have a community event where all ages could learn about our bodies all in a hands-on way,” Atwood added.
“We like to get kids interested in health care careers when they grow up, but we also want to make it so if kids come to the hospital, it’s not so scary,” said Beth Palmquist, clinical instructor of radiology and imaging at Baystate Franklin Medical Center and an organizer of “Blood and Guts.”
Peter Guiod, speech pathologist at Baystate Franklin Medical Center, operated a booth featuring a video depicting what someone swallowing food looks like on an X-ray. He said Friday’s fair had more attendees than he had ever seen at earlier “Blood and Guts” fairs. “If volume is a measure of success, I’d say it was pretty successful,” Guiod said.