HSHS St. Joseph’s Foundation Brings Farm Safety to Kids at Madison County Fair
The HSHS St. Joseph’s Foundation hosted a Farm Safety event, presented by Highland Rural King, at the Madison County Fair last Friday.
The Farm Safety event featured three sessions: farm safety for kids, first aid on the farm, and chemical spills and the decontamination room at St. Joseph’s Hospital. In addition, St. Joseph’s Hospital partnered with the Madison County Fair to sponsor a first aid and cooling station, as well as offer health related information and services.
Country Financial hosted the farm safety for kids session, featuring information on equipment safety, ATV operation, and general farm safety tips. Dawn Ninness, a financial representative for Country Financial in Highland, presented the program and spoke to a crowd of kids for about a half hour. Kids were able to ask questions and share their own safety tips at the end of the program. The session included giveaways from Country Financial and the St. Louis District Dairy Council, and free ice cream donated by Prairie Farms.
The second session, farm first aid, presented by Laura Forester, a nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital, included information about cuts, amputations, heat exhaustion, and other first aid skills. The third session, chemical spills and the decontamination room, presented by Stephanie Thannum, a nurse at St. Joseph’s Hospital, included information on what to do when a chemical spill occurs and a presentation about the decontamination room at the hospital.
St. Joseph’s Hospital also had Registered Nurses and Certified Nursing Assistants on site throughout the week. The nurses were on hand to treat any minor injuries, overheating, or other medical issues. St. Joseph’s Hospital also sponsored a cooling station stocked with fans, water, ice packs, and popsicles for children. Sponsors of the station included LG Seeds, CHS Shipman, and Midwest Tractor Sales.
Information about hospital services, as well as blood pressure screenings, were available all week. Nurses screened for sleep apnea and were able to send referrals for sleep studies to a patient’s primary care physician. Fair-goers also received giveaways, as well as entered into a drawing for one of two prizes — a chainsaw and Go Pro camera — provided by Country Financial.
This story was originally published July 30, 2015 at 4:37 AM with the headline "HSHS St. Joseph’s Foundation Brings Farm Safety to Kids at Madison County Fair."