May 3, 2002

Many MGH employees received a helping hand during their work day April 26 as more than 300 children visited the hospital for Take Our Children to Work Day. Kids had the chance to sample cuisine from the Eat Street Café, pay a visit to the Children and HealthCare Week Fair under the Bulfinch Tent and, of course, help their parents or sponsors with their workload.

Passersby saw groups of children trooping through the corridors as they took tours of the hospital to visit the Police and Security Dispatch Center, the helipad, the Blood Donor Center and the Respiratory Acute Care Unit on Bigelow 9.

The young participants also traveled back in time to 1846 as they relived the moment when ether was first demonstrated as a surgical anesthetic in the Ether Dome. Each child had their picture taken — courtesy of the MGH Photo Lab — in a life-size cutout of the surgeons who had performed that historic operation. Although the children didn’t take home a paycheck, they did receive informational handouts, word puzzles and bags full of giveaways.

Demaris Kenny of MGH Surgery, right, with her daughter Daneke.