FarmSafe Manitoba, in partnership with the Manitoba Canola Growers Association, is hosting two Farmer First Aid sessions, in Steinbach on August 19th, and Brandon on August 20th.
Colin Hornby, General Manager of Keystone Agricultural Producers, said the sessions are a great way for Keystone and FarmSafe Manitoba to promote safety. The event is put on with collaboration from St. John's Ambulance, Canada's largest first aid training organization.
"We run the FarmSafe Manitoba program, and this is just an opportunity to make sure we provide values to our members, and deliver on that mandate to make sure we have safer farms across Manitoba, so we want to provide an opportunity to get Level 1 CPR certified...we work with St. John's Ambulance to make sure we design something that's agriculture focused and agriculture specific, so we get them to provide a trainer who understands farms and agriculture, and what some of the unique situations and challenges can be, because they're also going to cover some basics just around basic safety when you're on the farm, things to do, not to do, things like that," said Hornby.
First aid on farms presents several interesting challenges. With a wide variety of equipment, and the remote location of the majority of farms, Manitoba's farmers need to be sure they're prepared for a very wide variety of first aid concerns. Hornby said because of all those concerns, it's really valuable for farmers to attend one of the Farmer First Aid sessions, because that knowledge could literally save a life.
"I think another uniqueness is the remoteness of agriculture, the remoteness of farms, a lot of times you're either by yourself or you're with one other person, and there's not anybody near you for miles...that's really why it's super important that everybody knows what are the basics of first aid, if somebody gets hurt and they need help, and if you're the closest person, the next person's not near for quite a few miles, so we really want to make sure that farms have the opportunity to get as many people trained up on this as possible," said Hornby.
One big draw of these sessions is that Keystone Agricultural Producers and Manitoba Canola Growers Association members will receive a full rebate, making the course essentially free. Hornby said if you're on the fence, don't be: first aid training is an incredibly valuable skill to have on Manitoba's farms.
