Farm accident rescue training is an important and popular educational program among rural emergency medical personnel. For the last four years, the Ohio State University (OSU) and the Ohio Fire Academy (OFA) have worked in cooperation to provide this type of training to emergency responders in Ohio. The training at the OFA facilities in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, includes both in-class training and hands-on extraction exercises. Both OFA and OSU have often received requests for two-day courses that would include hands-on training. In addition, two-hour introductions to farm rescue have been provided. However, due to personnel limitations, the limited availability of equipment for hands-on training and safety concerns, it has not always been possible to accommodate all training requests. Furthermore, both OFA and OSU are concerned that all training programs should be standardized to ensure that minimum educational requirements are fulfilled, regardless of the location or trainer.
Using the Northeast Region Agricultural Engineering Service (NRAES) publication, "Farm Rescue Training", OFA and OSU have developed a six-hour, video-assisted outreach training program. This program is designed so that the instruction may be offered to larger groups of individuals without comprising the quality of the education provided. The NRAES workbook is a relatively inexpensive and easy-to-read publication, which is followed very closely by an OSU/OFA-developed teacher's manual. Included with the training program are a 113 slide set, which includes photographs, word slide set and graphics, and an 11 videotape program (Edited versions of the Penn State Farm Accident And Rescue Series).
The presentation will discuss this cooperative venture between the Ohio State University and the Ohio Fire Academy, a program which satisfies a critical need in the state. It was initiated and developed with NIOSH AHPS funds. The planning and development process has been conducted with a view to make the program independent and on-going beyond the grant period, a threshold that has been successfully attained.
This research abstract was extracted from a portion of the proceedings of "Agricultural Safety and Health: Detection, Prevention and Intervention," a conference presented by the Ohio State University and the Ohio Department of Health, sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control/National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
T. Lawrence, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH; D. Fetters, Ohio Fire Academy, Reynoldsburg, OH; F. Conway, Ohio Fire Academy, Reynoldsburg, OH; T. Bean, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.
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