Published Sept. 25 in the Kentucky Standard

Program raises awareness of on-farm hazards

By JIM BROOKS
The Kentucky Standard

BARDSTOWN — Units from the Bardstown-Nelson County Volunteer Fire Department responded Tuesday evening to a reported ATV overturned on a young girl at J&G Equipment on Bloomfield Road.

A crowd of onlookers quietly watched the rescue workers free the girl and applauded when Nelson County EMS personnel carried the victim to a waiting ambulance.

This time however, the girl was a mannequin, and the rescue was one of the demonstrations for Farm Safety Day.

More than 140 spectators attended the event, which was sponsored by the Lincoln Trail Farm Safety and Health Task Force of Nelson County.

In addition to the ATV accident, firefighters and EMS personnel also responded to a rotary mower “accident.”

In this scenario, a young boy had fallen off the fender of a tractor pulling a rotary mower — commonly referred to as a “bush hog.”

The boy — in this case a live subject — had mock injuries and was trapped beneath the rotary mower’s deck.

Firefighters and Nelson County EMS treated both accidents as though real lives hung in the balance.

Joe Hall of Bardstown found the rescue scenarios to be effective and educational.
“I think it’s been a great demonstration,” he said.

Hall once owned a tractor without a rollover protective structure but bought one with the safety device last year.

“Wearing the seat belt can be a hassle” when you’re looking behind you a lot, he said. “It’s just really something you have to get used to,” he said. “After all, the roll-over bar isn’t much protection if you don’t use the seat belt.”

The mock ATV accident hit close to home with 17-year-old Brian Cambron of Bardstown.

Cambron is an active ATV user, and he learned to respect the hazards the machines can represent.

“When I go out riding, I wear a helmet, pads, and the whole works,” he said. With his protective gear on “when I go out to ride, I look like a football player.”
Greg Montgomery of Bardstown attended the safety demonstrations with his son, Jeremy, 15, and daughter, Andrea, 7.

“I’m glad to see so many people come out for this,” he said.

Dale Dobson, a native of LaRue County appointed farm safety field officer by Gov. Paul Patton, was on hand to pass out information and talk about the importance of safety on the farm.

While Kentucky has continued to lead the nation in farm accidents, fatalities have decreased in the past five years, Dobson said.

That’s a trend he would like to see continue.

“Education and events like this are the key,” Dobson said.

Pam Donahue, executive director of the Lincoln Trail Farm Safety and Health Task Force of Nelson County, said she was very pleased with the turnout.

Dobson told Donahue he was especially pleased with the number of children who attended the program.

“Some day those kids will remember what they saw,” Donahue said. “If they can learn to do things the right way they can avoid accidents later.”

While Farm Safety Day visitors munched on hot dogs, pork chops and chips, foods provided by J&G Equipment, they were able to watch other demonstrations, including one of the dangers of getting near electrical transformers and power lines.

To promote the use of ROPS on older tractors, the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture has a two-year program in place that offers grant money for the cost of the safety systems.

Stanley Hicks of Bardstown was the winner of a $500 drawing to help pay for a ROPS installation.

Hicks said he has a couple of tractors without ROPS, and he would see which one the system is available for.

“I’ll definitely use it,” he said.

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