Fillmore-Houston Farm Safety Day Camp is a success
By Janet Kubat Willette
jkubat@agrinews.com
Date Modified: 06/03/2010 9:23 AM
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MABEL, Minn. — Spring Grove seniors Rachel Wiste and Brooke Johnson sat in the grass a distance from the group they were leading, enjoying the sunshine.
The two FFA members started volunteering at the Fillmore-Houston Farm Safety Day Camp when they were freshmen, monitoring the time and then ushering groups of eager fourth graders from station to station to keep everything flowing smoothly.
They came that first year to see what safety camp was like and they've never left.
"It's fun to come and see the different kids," Wiste said. "It's fun to watch them."
They experienced the safety camp through the eyes of the fourth graders each year, watching them recoil at the PTO safety demonstration and watching them look at the black heifer in awe.
Looking back over the years, their favorite parts of safety camp were seeing the medical helicopters land and the fire truck spray water.
There's something about seeing the helicopter land that is amazing for all ages.
Chatfield fourth-graders Britney Fretland and Bennett Gathje said the landing of Medlink Air from Gunderson Lutheran in LaCrosse was the highlight of their Farm Safety Day Camp experience. They were lucky enough to watch the landing from a nearby, but safe, distance.
Fretland said she was looking forward to the field trip, because it's one of their biggest.
"It's one of the most exciting," Gathje added.
They learned many things by lunchtime, including to stay away from power take-offs, avoid climbing in grain bins and not riding double on four wheelers.
What students remember is all across the board, said Jerrold Tesmer, University of Minnesota Extension educator in Fillmore and Houston counties. Tesmer has helped organize the two-county event since it began four years ago. He's been teaching at farm safety camps for about 20 years.
This year, 393 students from across Fillmore and Houston counties attended the Farm Safety Day Camp. There were 15 stations, 30 presenters and 30 FFA volunteers.
"It takes a lot of people to pull it together, there's no question about it," Tesmer said.
It wouldn't be possible to pull off the camp if not for the volunteers who return year after year, he said. About 75 percent to 80 percent of the presenters return annually. Lynn Aggen of Harmony Veterinary Clinic has volunteered almost as many years as he has, Tesmer said.
This year, Aggen taught animal safety. He told students to be calm when approaching livestock and to be especially wary of cows with calves.
"She'll even come after big people if she thinks her calf is in danger," he told the students. A cow weighs 1,200 pounds, which is 10 times what any of you weigh, he said.
Also, be mindful of bulls. Always have an escape route in your mind, Aggen said.
Don't be afraid of animals, but be mindful of how much power they have, he said.
In his 37 years of practice, he's been bruised, kicked, stepped on and had stitches in his face, but had no diagnosed broken bones.
Other stops:
• Brad Pecinovsky of Tri-County Electric Cooperative taught the electrical safety demonstration.
"The big thing to remember is to stay away from downed power lines," Pecinovsky said.
Pecinovsky cautioned students to leave anything hanging from a power line alone and to stay in a vehicle if a power line is touching the vehicle. Birds don't get electrocuted when they touch a power line because there's no path to ground.
"You can't see electricity going through a power line," he said.
• PTO safety
"This is Ralph," Tesmer said, introducing his stuffed dummy that would become a victim in a PTO accident.
Ralph takes shortcuts, Tesmer said, and wears loose clothing. It's important to wear tight fitting clothing with no dangling strings when working around PTOs, he said.
"It doesn't have to be a big tractor. If it has a spinning shaft, you can get wrapped up in it," Tesmer said.
A PTO can kill a person in one second.
• Katie Winslow told the story of 9-year-old Shirley who was playing in the grain wagon unknown to anyone else. When her uncle began to unload the wagon, Shirley's screams for help went unheard. Shirley is a fictional character, so named by Winslow because she could "surely" lose an arm, leg or her life if playing in a full grain wagon.
Scott Winslow talked about the importance of wearing a harness when inside a grain bin. His harness cost $150. Typically, his son will enter a bin and he will stay outside to hold the harness. He ties it off when his son is inside.
Grain is like quicksand, the more you move, the deeper in you go, he said.
"Does corn have feelings? Is corn going to let you go?" Katie said.
• "It looks like a fly," a fourth grader said as the emergency medical helicopter for Gunderson Lutheran Medical Center landed at the Hesper-Mabel Steam Engine grounds.
The Medlink Air receives 900 requests a year, said flight nurse Aaron Bailey. It has the potential to haul two victims.
He showed students what they would use to breathe for them if they were knocked out while riding their bike or rollerblading. Wear your helmet, he said.
Medlink Air has a three-person crew of a pilot, flight nurse and flight paramedic.
• Brenda Pohlman of Fillmore County Public Health demonstrated the consequences of not wearing a seatbelt with an egg. This egg is like your head, she told the students before placing the egg in a little people car and having a student volunteer push the car down a road into a brick wall. The egg cracked and oozed yolk and white.