Safe Kids promotes farm safety
By Carol Ryan Dumas, Ag Weekly editor
Thursday, June 26, 2008 6:17 PM CDT
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Courtesy photo
Safe Kids, Magic Valley, and the Twin Fllas County Farm Bureau Federation organized a Farm Safety Day Camp, held at the fairgrounds in Filer on June 14 |
TWIN FALLS, Idaho - Even farmers might be surprised by what farm kids don’t know about the dangers they face every day on the farm. That’s why Safe Kids, Magic Valley - a department of St. Luke’s Magic Valley Regional Medical Center - and Twin Falls County Farm Bureau Federation teamed up to host a Farm Safety Day Camp for children ages 8 through 14.
The day camp, open to rural and urban youth alike, covered everything from how to safely fly a kite, avoiding electrical shock from power lines, to awareness around farm equipment.
“We usually lose somebody, at least one a year, through ag accidents,” said Page Geske, Safe Kids director for the past five years.”
And that’s just in this eight-county area. Nationally, an estimated 70 children a year ages 14 and under die from injuries occurring on the farm. Children account for 20 percent of all on-farm injuries. In 2001, that number of injuries for youth under the age of 20 was an estimated 22,648 nationwide - more than 6,000 of them in children under the age of 10.
Those numbers demand attention, Geske said.
“The number one killer of kids is not (disease); it’s unintentional injury. That’s what we try to prevent - all unintentional injury,” she said.
The potential for preventable farm injuries is huge, considering machinery, irrigation canals and coulees, ATV usage, large animals, power lines, and electrical panels - all mainstays on most farming operations.
So after an 11-year hiatus of the farm-safety instruction for youth, organizers went all out to cover all the basis. Presentations included: safety around electricity, machinery, trucks, ATVs, canals and water, animals, and guns; first-on-the scene emergency response; and escaping a fire. And it was done with interactive, youth-friendly demonstrations. The Filer Fire Department even brought a house that simulates a fire so youngsters can learn how to escape.
Dave Walker, salesmen for Gem Equipment and TF County Farm Bureau treasurer, brought a tractor and a dummy to demonstrate the dangers of bypass starting, from the ground instead of the seat of the tractor. Seeing a dummy getting run over by the tractor drove the danger home to wide-eyed youngsters.
He also demonstrated how quickly clothes can get entangled in a PTO -- power take-off shaft.
“You have to make it interesting,” Walker said. “You don’t just get up there and talk; you have demonstrations. They pay attention.”
That they did.
“We had a really good bunch of kids, good response, real attentive,” he said.
The youngsters were the right age to soak it all in, he added. Trying to get the message across to youngsters under 7 or 8 and older than 14 or 16 is not as successful. The younger ones’ comprehension and attention is limited and the older ones get board or think they already know it.
But the middle-age youngsters are likely to get it and bring it home to the farm where they’ll point out dangerous situations to their parents and siblings, he said.
“A lot of them don’t learn it on the farm,” he said. “Parents are busy, everyone’s busy, and they don’t pay attention to detail.
“Every year we lose at least a couple in an accident, a stupid accident,” he added.
The farm is a dangerous place, and the youngsters who go through the camp not only can better protect themselves, they can bring dangers to the attention of others on the farm, he said.
Judy Woody, TF County Farm Bureau Women’s Committee chairman and health and safety committee member, said accidents involving ATVs, tractors and large animals top the list in south-central Idaho and education is crucial.
“I don’t think we can ever go wrong with farm safety for kids (to) prevent accidents,” she said, speaking of the statistics on youngsters in on-farm accidents. “We hope people will look at these and start the kids young” with safety education.
Even though it may sound cliché, all involved in the safety day camp said if their efforts save even one child from accidental injury or death, the program has been successful.
“If we get through the summer without one kid drowning in a coulee or getting killed in an ATV accident, we were successful; that’s the point,” Geske said.
Presenters at the June 14 camp held at the county fairgrounds in Filer included: Idaho Power, Gem Equipment, Farm Bureau, Twin Falls Canal Company, Twin Falls County Extension, Idaho State Police, Jenny Lanting, DVM, Magic Valley Paramedics, and Filer Fire Department.
Sponsors were both numerous and generous, Geske said, adding that organizers are grateful and hope to make the camp an annual event with more sponsors on board next year. Fifty-five youngsters attended the camp, but organizers had room for 125 and are counting on better participation next year.
Because St. Luke’s is a non-profit entity, Safe Kids operates on three fundraisers a year and through grants. It has provided cycling helmets, infant car seats, and bicycle and buckle-up safety seminars all over south-central Idaho.
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Bobbi Dalton wrote on Jun 28, 2008 11:58 AM: