Story Sales & Service



North Dakota Ag News Headlines
Rural Firefighters Delivering Agricultural Safety and Health
North Dakota Ag Connection - 01/23/2020

Rural firefighters are many times volunteers and serve the agricultural community by responding to emergencies both on and off farms. One Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH) program has focused on this dedicated group of people to offer training and education to help them prevent and respond to agricultural injuries.

UMASH, housed at the University of Minnesota, is a multidisciplinary collaboration of five leading research and health care institutions. It serves Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, North and South Dakota, mot of Nebraska and the northern portions of Illinois and Missouri. This collaboration brings together unique and complimentary expertise to address existing and emerging occupational health and safety issues in agriculture.

Rural Firefighters Delivering Agricultural Safety and Health (RF-DASH) is entering its third year with an emphasis on sustaining this important training.

This past fall, a group of firefighters and EMS personnel attending the Wisconsin EMS Association Meetings were trained about the increased risks in agriculture and how they can become effective safety advocates by being prepared to safely respond to farm emergencies. One of these individuals present at the training was Stratford Fire Chief Tim Carey.

Four days after the training, Stratford Fire with mutual aid from Mosinee and Marshfield Ambulance responded to a farm incident in rural central Wisconsin. A milk truck heading down a county road collided with a tractor in the late evening hours that sent both individuals to the hospital. Tragically, the incident resulted in the loss of the 38-year-old driver of the tractor.

Chief Carey being on scene, and having just taken the RF-DASH training a week prior, did an excellent job of communicating with the local media about actions that both farmers and the community can take to prevent such incidences from ever occurring. Chief Carey, both a farmer and a firefighter, understands the hazards that comes with working in high risk occupations. He also understands how one incident does not only affect the ones involved, but the entire rural community. In a recent interview he stated, "To me when I see a victim of a farm accident, it's just like when it's someone from the fire service, even if I don't know them it feels like I do because they are like brothers to me."

Firefighters/EMS are seen as trusted sources when it comes to both the media and the community, and sometimes we may forget how much of an impact they can have. "The feedback I have been getting about the interview in the Stratford community has been unbelievable," Chief Carey recalled. "I was hauling corn into ProVision and even the person running the scale complimented me on the message from the interview. I told him if that short interview gets just one farmer to put some reflectors and a new SMV sign on his equipment and that prevents another accident, I will call it a win."

As RF-DASH enters its third year of training, the team will begin focusing on sustainability and program effectiveness. RF-DASH will rely on people like Chief Carey to implement the training in their areas, to raise awareness of the hazards that are present, and above all, be the Rural Firefighter that Delivers Agricultural Safety and Health.


Other North Dakota Headlines
Sturdy-Built Fabrication
E-Z Trail Farm Wagons
Copyright © 2024 - Farms.com. All Rights Reserved.