CHEMED Health Fair marks National Health Center Week

Free health screenings, activities for children, nutrition tips, and safety demonstrations highlight a fair on August 12 at the Center for Health, Education, Medicine and Dentistry (CHEMED) in Lakewood.

The fair, 10 AM until 2 PM at the federally-qualified health center on Madison Avenue marks the midpoint of National Health Center Week, recognizing comprehensive preventive and primary health care offered by CHEMED and similar operations all over the United States, regardless of a patient's ability to pay.

This year marks a half-century of national health center programs in America.

CHEMED staffer Eva Montes conducts story time for children from 12 until 1 PM. Mobile CPR of Ocean County staffers offer free hands-on compression CPR training. Ocean County Health Department staffers and members of the County Prosecutor's office emphasize safe driving with fatal vision goggles and simulated field sobriety tests.

According to information from Mobile CPR of Ocean County, learning the simplified, chest-compression method termed Hands On Practical Experience (HOPE) doesn't result in certification and is appropriate for beginners, rather than professionals. However, HOPE can empower children and adults in everyday life to help heart-attack victims avoid the risk of brain damage in the first four critical minutes, and extend the chance for survival. Mobile CPR of Ocean County offers full certification courses in addition to free HOPE training.

In addition, there will be BMI screenings by Horizon NJ Health, skin analysis and skin care advice by Amerigroup, blood pressure tests by United Healthcare, information for parents from the Lakewood Speech and Language Center, and nutrition facts from the New Jersey Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program-Education (SNAP).

Organizers at CHEMED also promise items to take home, for adults and children.