Reaching the Community about Rural Health and Farm Safety

This semester, Spring 2014, I have had the privilege to complete an internship at the Carle Foundation Hospital.  Here at Carle, I am in their Public Relations Department and an intern for Rural Health and Farm Safety. 

The Carle Center for Rural Health and Farm Safety’s mission is all about keeping families and farms safe.  Below is the mission statement and what Carle believes.

“In 1991, Carle Foundation Hospital recognized the need for education in agricultural safety after the devastating loss of Clifford and Dean Roberts, father and son who died in separate farming incidents. The Roberts family, in conjunction with Bernice and Zelma Holl, established the Roberts Memorial Fund to help support the Center for Rural Health and Farm Safety.”

“Today, the Center continues to promote agricultural health and safety to our rural neighbors and to prepare pre-hospital and emergency medicine providers to respond quickly and effectively to farming incidents and injuries.”

During my time spent at Carle I have gotten to be a part of many different projects and events.  A big part of my internship has been processing, registering, and evaluating Carle’s Community CPR and First Aid Class through The American Heart Association.  Carle provides these classes to the community for free.  These classes are important especially to the rural community because it can take as long as 10-15 minutes for emergency response teams to get to a farm family or small community.  The courses provide the proper instruction for people to learn how to save a life.

Another big part of my internship has been my involvement with Carle’s School Programs.  My supervisor, Amy Rademaker, and myself go into schools in the area and cover topics relating to farm safety as well as other safety topics that children could face each day.  

This picture above is of a day that I went to Monticello Junior High and talked to two health classes about food safety.  Each time we deliver a presentation we have hands-on lessons and take-home handouts to help them hopefully minimize the risks.  Food safety is just one of the topics I have presented.  The topics we have covered are environmental emergencies, tractor safety, and more.  

Starting next week, Carle will be working with Progressive Ag Safety Days.  Topics like animal, chemical, grain, water, weather safety, and more will be covered, teaching children about how important safety is and how to accept responsibility for their own safety. These safety days reach grades 4th through 6th and Carle will educate almost 1,000 kids through these Safety Days!!

Stay tuned for a blog next week about Safety Days and the preparations that I have been doing for them! 

Lastly,  I wanted to say that this internship has been a blast and I highly recommend it! Each day is a different day and a busy day.  It has been an exciting internship and I have definitely been learning so much, new skills and enhancing skills I already have.  Below is a picture of a calendar in Amy and I's office.  It may look overwhelming, but it helps us know what events are coming up, important dates, and colors to match the different sections of each event that the Rural Health and Farm Safety Center leads throughout the year. 

For more information, call (217) 326-8506 or email farmsafety@carle.com.