It's time to be well with your health. I'm Shanna. Welcome to the Adventist HealthCare and You podcast. I am really excited for today's episode. I have a special guest, Glenn Rabbitte. He is the assistant nurse manager at Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center emergency department. Welcome, Glenn.

Well, thank you for having me.

Happy to be Thank you.

And we are if any of our listeners haven't guessed it yet, we are here to talk about the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair, which is a yearly event that draws thousands of people to Montgomery County from across Montgomery County and even from other counties. It's a big it's a big thing.

It's a big deal.

And it's coming up and Shady Grove Medical Center has always taken a special part in the fair. So, Glenn, before we get into Shady Grove's part of the fair and what we do there, tell me a little bit about what you do at Shady Grove first. Introduce yourself to the listeners, and then we'll get into it.

Hi, everyone. My name is Glenn Rabbitte. I have I've worked with Shady Grove for ten years now, all in the emergency department. So I'm in the assistant nurse manager role where I kind of am a hybrid between, like, a leadership and then also being out on the unit, working with patients, working with our team, and just trying to, you know, bring some joy to people's lives.

Yeah. And Shady Grove Medical Center has an extremely busy ED, and we are very thankful and grateful for what you do every day to serve our community.

Thank you.

So, before we get into more of the logistics of the fair, my favorite part of the fair, which I always look forward to, is the food. No surprise there.

And since you how long have you been participating in the fair?

So I've been working with the fair for the this will be my fourth year.

Okay.

I mean, Shady Grove, we've been out there for forty five years. Yes. So we've had an amazing time, working with Montgomery County and, you know, the agricultural team there. This is year four and inherited it from my previous director and have just kind of taken hold of it and have loved it ever since.

Awesome. So what do you look forward to the most when it comes to the fair every year?

I mean, honestly, it's it's the people. It's the opportunity to work with our community. Yeah. I work in the hospital. I work in emergency medicine. I typically see people at some of the worst times of their lives.

It is so refreshing to be out in our community talking to people, educating, and Seeing them have fun. Seeing them have a good time.

Yeah. I love it.

Absolutely.

Well, let's talk a little bit about what Shady Grove Medical Center does at the fair. So we've been there for forty five years. And what do we do while we're there?

So, I mean, we provide very basic first aid.

So, you know, we see we tend to see a lot of people, you know, cuts, scrapes, bruises, trips and falls, insect bites, things like that. But we have kind of an amazing space, like one of the very few air conditioned spaces throughout the fairgrounds. So it's nice place for people to come, get a little respite, get a little of first aid care. Mhmm. And then kind of go on about their day.

And we've been doing that for forty five years now.

Yes.

I believe so.

Forty five whole years.

It is so core to Adventist HealthCare's place and purpose in the community is to be a part of the community. And and I just love that we do this. And the volunteers from Shady Grove Medical Center come out year over year to help the community.

It's it's an incredible turnout. I mean, when you're asking people to volunteer their time, to come out to events, it's it's beautiful to see. And we get people from kind of all over our system. Right?

So it's not just Shady Grove. It's our colleagues at White Oak. It's our colleagues at Fort Washington that come and participate. Some of our ancillary places as well.

Outpatient sites.

Yeah. Outpatient sites. They come and just have a good time.

That's excellent. Do you know how many volunteers do we go through in a week?

So typically, during the whole event, I believe there's eighty six slots in total.

Okay. That's a lot of hours.

A lot of hours. Yeah. They volunteer. So it's like three, four hour shifts.

So we're we're out there. We're serving the community. Can you describe what a typical day looks like when we're out at the fair?

Yeah. Sure. So typically, we work, ten AM to ten PM. That's when first aid is open and available.

And we are, you know, waiting for people to come and see us.

I kind of like I get there a little bit earlier in the day, and there are people that, you know, work the carnival side of That's right.

I forgot. You probably help the workers a lot.

Absolutely. So and like the morning time and then, you know, they usually come before they start their jobs. They don't typically have a lot of access to health care. Yeah.

So it's kind of nice to talk to them, get them kind of fixed up, and they go and do their thing.

Excellent. Yeah. Describe to us and our listeners what are some of the first aid and and care that is provided on a daily basis.

We do a lot of light wound care.

If people come in with splinters or anything like that, we're helping treat that. Minor allergic reactions, it's hot out there. Mhmm. And I think, again, it's we offer one of the few air conditioned spaces.

There's water.

There's water. Yeah.

And so and we also offer three cots that are there so people are able to lay down Rest.

Cool off.

Yeah.

We have water. We have ice packs. Nice. And just give people, again, a little bit of respite.

A play yeah. A place to come if they're feeling overheated. Yeah. There's also a a special room within the first aid building that we offer to moms and babies. So talk talk a little bit about that.

Absolutely.

It's it's funny because everyone that uses that kind of maternal child space, our maternity Yes.

Your maternity space.

Area. They absolutely love it. I like, the feedback we continually get year after year is that Montgomery County Fair is one of the few places that ever offers that kind of space.

And usually at those places, there's only porta potties.

So having a a special space for feeding Yeah.

It's it's a big deal.

Is it's a big deal, and it's a important part of offering a quality space for moms and babies.

Yeah. We have some, you know, mood lighting in there. It's, it's private. So Yeah. And, you know, there's a changing station in there.

So mom and baby can just kind of have that privacy Yes. During that time, and it everyone raves about it. They love it.

Well and and, again, that's a a core of of Shady Grove Medical Center is their maternity services.

I have a Shady Grove baby myself. And that's something we feel really passionate about. So, again, extending our care from outside the hospital walls into the community.

So preparing the building Mhmm. And getting ready to, accept people for first aid and care, what goes into getting that building and getting the staff ready for the week at the fair.

Absolutely. So, a lot of collaboration. Uh-huh. So we always when we have the space kind of available to us, we'll go do a site check, see what the year has left us with.

Yeah. No one's in that space for an entire year.

Correct. Yep.

It's usually in pretty good condition, but there's always, you know, a little bit It's gotta be clean.

Little bit of love that has to go into it. So collaborate with our EVS teams. They come out and help us clean that entire area and then, you know, start working on getting the supplies that we need for the year to help provide first aid. Okay. So kind of coordinating all of that and moving those supplies out there and organizing and being ready to Yeah.

And again, this is all done voluntarily. It's a community benefit.

And whenever you're dealing with people, so many people like that, you have to provide first aid. There has to be, a place for people to to, come to for for that late first aid care.

So And even get them more access to other care. Right? So if something's going on, making sure that we connect them with EMS, making sure that we if they need to go to the hospital, that we can help, you know, organize that for them, get them to where they need to be.

Yeah. That's excellent. Well, as people start to prepare to come to the fair in the coming days and weeks, what advice do you have for fair goers to help you mentioned heat. So what advice or tips do you have to stay cool, avoid heat stroke, heat exhaustion, things like that?

Absolutely. It's kind of the simple things. Right? So it's I mean, staying hydrated is one of the most important things, you know, seeking cool areas.

So, obviously, like I said, we have an air conditioning, big cell. Yeah. But there are also several other areas around that, particularly like the heritage building that have air conditioned spaces. Yeah.

Or just taking a break and walking through the animal areas where Taking a break.

Getting in some shade. Also, it's something simple, but wearing loose clothing Mhmm. Or wearing kind of moisture wicking clothing is a quick and easy thing that you can do. But staying hydrated, most important, stay away from caffeine, alcohol.

Okay. Good. Good. And I'll I'll just add a plug here and sunscreen.

And sunscreen.

Sunscreen. Because I have a son who freckles, and I'm always like, spray, spray, spray. What about storm and severe weather?

So the fair is open, rain or shine Mhmm.

I I believe. Yep. And so if there's sudden weather, what what should people do?

So obviously seek shelter. Mhmm. So trying to find some of the permanent structures that are around the fairgrounds to go to. Some of those can be the barns. First Aid is one of those buildings, but that's always there.

Some of the food areas that are permanent structures, just kind of seeking shelter until And watch the weather.

Passes. And watch the weather and be prepared for it.

Absolutely.

Okay. Another big draw for the fair, obviously, the games and the food, but the animals. That's also a big part of this agricultural fair. Kids love, parents love, fairgoers love. What happens if there's an interaction with an animal that does not go as well as we had hoped it, like a, an animal bite or even something simple. If you've touched the animals, what should you do?

First, follow the rules. Yes.

You know, be very respectful to those rules. So if there's a scratch or a bite, and they report to first aid, we have an incident reporting program, that we partner with the fairgrounds. And, you know, obviously we treat the injury and fill out that incident report. And then the the people from the fairgrounds, any of the animal owners, and the county vet all will assess the animal.

Nice. Okay. And then obviously, everybody wants to touch them, make sure they use hand sanitizer afterwards, all of that. Yes.

Okay. We talked about the animals. We've talked about heat. Rides. As someone who suffers motion sickness, I feel like I've talked a lot about myself in this one and suffering from certain things.

What, that's a common thing, though. So what can parents do to, manage any any type of motion sickness or upset tummies?

Yeah. So, I mean, the first step is kind of staying still. Right? Mhmm. So sitting down, often, like, closing your eyes, like decreased stimulation, will help kind of settle some of that.

You know, you can take small sips of water, things like that. Just try to help control your breathing, cool down Mhmm. Sit down.

Again, we try to offer a very, kind of calm environment, you know, decreased stimulation where And so it's okay to come visit the the first day building Absolutely.

If somebody's feeling a little queasy.

Come on down.

Okay. What other illnesses or injuries might you see during the week that listeners should be aware of?

A lot of allergies. I think that people Oh.

Yeah. That's interesting.

A lot of allergies.

You know, people have kind of seasonal allergies, environmental allergies. I don't think they realize coming to the fair there's I mean, there's dander from multiple animals. There's hay. There's you know, it's Dust from the from the grounds. It's, I don't think people realize the the impact that it has. Okay. I mean, even I go out there, and I don't think I have allergies, and suddenly I do.

Okay.

So definitely know, if you need some, antihistamines before you go. I guess we should probably cover. Where is the first aid building located at the fair?

We are located on the fair side. So, on the grounds, there's, like, kind of the carnival area and the fair area where all the animals are and, again, lots of vendors. We are at building twenty three. We are right between the swine and the dairy cows.

Okay.

So we're kind of right between there. We are also located in the same building as one of the main information booths. So people come there and, I mean, we're right there.

What are the hours?

So, we are there from ten AM to ten PM, the entire time that the fair is in operation.

Pm Alright. I think we've covered just about everything, Glenn. I so appreciate you coming in and all that you do to protect and take care of our community.

Thank you. Thank you for having me, and I hope everyone comes out and enjoys the Montgomery County Fair.

I'm looking forward to it for sure. So Adventist HealthCare Shady Grove Medical Center is a proud sponsor and long standing supporter of the Montgomery County Agricultural Fair by providing needed first aid services to the community. Remember, if you need assistance this fair week, you can find us across from the rabbit barn and next to the swine pavilion. And to all of our fairgoers, parents of young children, there's a quiet and air conditioned space located in the building for feeding and changing stations.

So make sure you check all of those out. And I also know that our staff and volunteers are in there, are ready to take care of you and answer your questions. Shady Grove Medical Center is ready to serve the community this week. So hope to see everyone fairly soon.

So don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you get any new episodes. Thank you, Glenn. I appreciate you coming by.

Thank you.

And to all of our listeners, thank you, and be well.