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Hundreds Turn Out For Health Fair At Campo YMCA

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By LAURA FRAZIER

lfrazier@tampatrib.com

Published: March 18, 2009

VALRICO - Kookie Acebo had a hard time remaining calm while undergoing a stress test in the gymnasium at the Campo Family YMCA.

Acebo had to hop up from her chair and chase down her daughters several times during the free stress-level screening offered by Thornton Chiropractic Center during the Greater Brandon Chamber of Commerce Health Fair.

Her girls, Zaige, 3, and Trinity, 7, could not keep their hands off a hands-on mannequin and oxygen mask display a few tables away

"So, of course, my stress levels were way up, but that's OK ... they're having fun," Acebo laughed.

More than 80 businesses showcased health-related commodities at the annual free event March 7, where some 800 people turned out to peruse product and service displays, gather educational materials and vendor freebies and line up for free health screenings.

Major sponsors of this year's event - dubbed Future Trends in Health Care - included Brandon Regional Hospital and The Tampa Tribune.

Katrina Holsonback, a nurse and instructor at Aparicio-Levy Technical Center, said the mannequin CPR display wasn't the only thing to draw attention to the school's booth. The Tampa-based education center is operated by Hillsborough County and offers adults continuing education courses in technical fields.

"Our biomedical tech program is the only technical-level program in the state, and that field is wide open," Holsonback said. "It's the hottest thing since gold was discovered in the hills."

Judy Grube, an insurance adjuster who visited the fair, was impressed by information the school provided about the forensics involved in blood alcohol level testing.

"It's really amazing, the amount of information they're providing here," Grube said.

At a Brandon Regional Hospital exhibit, visitors lined up to play doctor using a demo model of the hospital's new da Vinci Surgical System, a state-of-the-art robotic, minimally-invasive surgical tool.

Sean Michael, fresh from a soccer game, ditched his cleats and stood tip-toe in his stocking feet to reach the machine's controls and a 3D monitor display of a "surgical field" stationed a few feet away.

After his turn, Sean told his parents, Kelli and Brian Michael, the machine was different from a video game, "because you have to use your fingers and look inside a camera. That was really cool."

The Anglin family left the YMCA happy and tired, toting their gym bags and sacks full of promotional giveaways through the packed parking lot. Before strolling through the fair, Kelly and Wade Anglin and their 11-year old son, Jacob, took their usual Saturday morning spinning class while Joshua, 8, hung out in the kids' room and built "Star Wars stuff" with Legos and K'Nex.

He marched to the family car tooting a freebie kazoo his big brother had snagged for him.

Kelly Anglin appreciated the straight talk offered by medical professionals at one booth about sex education for middle schoolers, but Jacob's interest was piqued instead by more entertaining exhibits and sweet treats.

He said he enjoyed tasting free muffins from Sweet Tomatoes and described with glee his favorite display.

"At this hearing center booth, this guy put a white paper thingie inside this other guy's ear and you could see inside it, all the wax and the eardrum," he said. "It was pretty cool."

Reporter Laura Frazier can be reached at (813) 657-4523.

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