Max Armstrong on Farm Safety
For WKDZ, September 24, 2018
When we zero in on farm safety, we most often focus on the equipment, the livestock, the highway hazards or the children who live on the farm. And certainly, all of these subjects need to be given constant attention. Farming has always been a dangerous business, and it still is. But here is something that we all can consider, especially farmers: How is your knowledge of CPR, the life-saving practice of cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the simple emergency procedure that can save a life?
About two months ago I watched CPR performed in a life-or-death situation. I watched as two men gave another gentleman a chance to live to see another day. As I arrived in my vehicle at an event where I was to appear, I saw the bottom of a pair of shoes sticking out from a group of men, and could see a police officer shoving his hands into the chest of the man on the ground. The fellow lying there was a photographer. He was commissioned to get photos of our event that day and dropped from a heart attack right at the feet of the police officers he had lined up for his shot. He then became the focus of attention. And he is alive today. It turns out that this was the second time the photographer had been revived through cardiopulmonary resuscitation. He was at the right place, around the right people…twice.
When I shared this story on Facebook, among those responding was a rural EMT from Kansas. He told me that his track record with CPR had not been good. “So far, Max, I am 0 for 14.” There had been 14 times he had unsuccessfully tried CPR when he was called for the emergency….14 times that 9-1-1 had been called by someone, but help arrived too late. On some of those occasions, the person who called likely could have kept the victim alive until first responders arrived. “They didn’t know what to do,” he said.
I would hate to be in that situation, wouldn’t you? If your spouse or parent or valued employee collapsed in front of you, perhaps out in the field, in a remote area of the farm, would you know how to swing into action? Just imagine the satisfaction of being the one who stepped in to give your loved one another chance to live!
Most of our communities have somewhere you can get CPR instruction…perhaps the hospital, the Red Cross or the local fire station. Maybe someone can come to your farm to make sure you, your family and employees know how to perform this simple procedure. Oh, and if it’s been a been a few years since you were in one of those classes, it could be time for a refresher course.
Again, just think what that would feel like…if you knew what to do…or if you did not.
