Youngsters learn about ag safety
Kids learned all about safety during the Progressive Agriculture Safety Day program Friday at the Mississippi Valley Fairgrounds in Davenport.
But the beginning of the day held challenges as organizers discovered that electrical power was out because of Thursday night’s storm. “We got up and running in the dark,” said coordinator John Morgan, a health, safety and environmental training coordinator for Eastern Iowa Community College District, or EICCD.
The lack of lights and downed tree branches at the fairgrounds underscored sessions that stressed safety on the farm, in the water, at home and with firearms and animals. Fortunately, electricity was soon restored.
Safety Day is geared at children 7-13 and the program is sponsored by EICCD in conjunction with the Progressive Agriculture Foundation.
Kristina Bouxsein, an outreach coordinator for the American Red Cross of the Quad-Cities Area, taught children how to use gauze to bandage deep cuts and how to handle 911 calls.
“If there’s an emergency you might be feeling scared. If you’re talking (so) fast, the operator might not understand you,” she said. “Then they wouldn’t understand what is going on. You need to stay calm so you can describe the emergency.”
Dexter Golinghorst, 12, of Maysville, Iowa, watched as a friend’s imaginary head wound was swathed in gauze. “I learned how to properly wrap someone’s arm when they’re hurt. I found out what equipment to use,” he said.
Children learned that anyone 12 and under is required to wear a life-jacket when on a boat unless they are below deck. If someone falls in the water, “the one thing you never, never, never do is go into the water. Someone who goes in the water unexpectedly is going to panic,” warned instructor Judy Tumbleson of the U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary.
Instead, the rescuer can use a fishing pole, branch, article of clothing to toss out to the person in the water while keeping hold of an end, she said.
Dale Wriedt, a safety analyst for Deere & Co., Harvester Works, demonstrated safety around tractors with a John Deere tractor. “How many people have a tractor like this? It could be red, we won’t hold that against you,” he told the class.
He discouraged children from playing hide-and-seek games around farm equipment while out in the field. In those cases, it is important to stay visible, he said.
“You have to know what’s around because if someone’s in front, you could run over them,” Liz Hamann, 10, said. She lives on a farm near McCausland, Iowa.
When to call 911
Thursday night’s quick-moving storm left a lot of scattered tree limbs and damage in its wake in the area. Knowing when to call 9-11, and when not to, is a challenge. But if kids are home by themselves and the power goes out they should call their parents on the cell phone, said Kristina Bouxsein of the American Red Cross of the Quad-Cities Area.
Another reason to call is if people are outside in a storm and someone gets struck by lightning or injured by blowing debris or falling tree limbs. If people are riding in a vehicle during a thunderstorm, they should not touch metal parts of the vehicle, she said.
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