The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
By: Shirley Linder, Quill Editor
Seventh graders from Henderson and Warren Counties got to spend Friday, September 29th, at the Henderson County Fair grounds in Stronghurst. While the students appeared to be having a good time, it was not a day for play, but a day for serious learning about safety issues.
The students were divided into groups and when the ambulance siren sounded after 20 minutes they rotated to one of the eleven stations.
Stations were set up for fire safety, ATV safety, including helmets, PTO (power take off) safety, (which was demonstrated by a straw filled dummy being caught in the take off), lawn mower and weed eater safety, grain bin safety, safety in being around animals and more.
Between noon and 1:00 p.m. all of the students gathered in the Allison Building to watch and learn from the Live Line Demo, presented by Kyle Finley.
Some of the safety issues demonstrated and explained by Finley were:
Mylar balloons are an excellent conductor of electricity and should never be allowed to touch a wire. Even free floating mylar balloons pose a threat as they can become entangled in and destroy expensive electrical service, which is equipment others are depending on for their electricity.
Make sure your swimming pool is not under wires so when you clean it with the long metal poles there is no danger of coming in contact with the wires.
Don't climb trees with wires running through them, find another one to climb.
Always look up, especially when moving or elevating farm equipment.
You're driving and your car slides off the road and strikes a utility pole, your first instinct may be to get out and inspect the damage, but Finley advises, "Don't do it." The collision may have jarred a power line from the utility pole, which may be hanging on or near your car charging the ground around your vehicle. Finley says stay in your vehicle and use your cell phone to call for help. Should fire force you out, Finley recommends jumping clear of your vehicle, then bunny hopping (feet together) away from the car.
The students also learned how to call 911 should an emergency happen.
They were briefed by Mary Alice Huntoon and Julie Kline on how to use 911 before entering a building to find SimMan (a life like computerized mannequin) lying on the table. SimMan was breathing, moaning, coughing, a toe cut off, part of an arm cut off and a gun shot wound. Students were allowed to examine the man and then make the call to 911 where Brad Mowen was standing by (across the table) to take the information and ask questions before dispatching an ambulance.
This $40,000 life like mannequin is fully computerized with realistic anatomy and clinical functions provided for training.
A student feels the life-like chest of a mannequin as he breathes during a safety day at the Henderson County fairgrounds Friday.