By Stephen Smoot
Steve Conrad, president of the Pendleton County Farm Bureau, made the headlining statement a week after a Farm Safety Day was held.
And it certainly applies.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, approximately 100,000 children suffer injuries on farms every year with around 100 dying as a result. While the federal government labors to create ways to reduce these numbers, the Pendleton County Farm Bureau, Pendleton County West Virginia University Extension Service, and Pendleton County Schools have teamed up to educate seventh and eighth graders on the necessity of safety on the farm and in related environments.
Every other year, seventh and eighth graders from Pendleton County Middle School come to the community building to learn about safety in both farm and rural living environments. Children in rural areas tend to live, work, and play more outdoors while also handling and using dangerous equipment.
There, they all cycled between seven stations, each of which provided children with life-saving information about how to avoid accidents and injuries.
“Injuries from equipment,” Conrad explained to the students before they started, “can have a real life impact. It can affect the rest of your life.”
“I thank Brooke (Alt) and Jessica (Hoover) for putting this together,” he concluded. Alt and Hoover serve as the dual agents for the county’s WVU Extension Service.
The Franklin Volunteer Fire Department pulled one of their apparatuses out for demonstration purpose. Patrick Frank, a firefighter with the department, described the equipment on board.
“How many of you have ever heard of the jaws of life?” he asked, then explained the elements of it and how they work. He also showed other tools needed by firefighters as they respond to calls.
An officer with the West Virginia Natural Resources Police, Matthew Stover, worked with students on firearm safety. His lesson focused in part on situational awareness, saying, “The first thing is, you’ve got to know what you’re shooting at.” He also discussed the range and power of selected weapons to impress upon the attendees that rifles can hit targets at a farther distance than most think.
Respecting the potential danger from tools serves as a key component to avoiding injuries on the farm. Experts at two different stations gave demonstrations on safe use of tools such as chain saws and the need to take special care around drive shafts on tractors and other equipment. Greg Mitchell showed how quickly that drive shafts can grab loose clothing and seriously injure or kill the person wearing them.
Hoover explained that when it comes to safety, “A lot of children and adults both don’t think about it until it’s too late. Agriculture is one of the most dangerous professions.”
Bethany Perez from Potomac Highlands Guild manned a station to explain the dangers inherent in drugs that many adolescents assume to be less harmful. This includes marijuana, vaping, and other products. Perez had quiz contests to measure student knowledge of dangerous drugs and had prizes for those who scored well.
Over the past generation, all terrain vehicles of different types have emerged as mainstays on farms of all sizes. Their abilities to reach areas that larger vehicles cannot adds to their utility, but also takes drivers and riders into more dangerous situations. Alt shared “ATV Golden Rules” with students, then offered more advanced education opportunities for ATV safety.
“I was telling them when I was younger that I was in an ATV accident,” Alt explained. Injuries received then make her passionate about ATV safety now.
Students who came to the event took with them potentially life-saving lessons to prevent life-altering injuries. Each received a T-shirt that read “Safety Is My Superpower.”
