Research has shown that the estimated costs for agricultural injuries are a surprisingly high economic burden. Farm owners and farm workers need specialized first aid training to deal with severe traumatic injuries that have the potential to occur in agriculture, especially because in rural areas farm workers are likely to be the first responders to injured co-workers or other bystanders due to the time it takes for medical professionals to arrive.
In response, Jacob Powell, an Oregon State University Extension Service crops and livestock faculty member, held two in-person first aid training sessions in 2023 for farm owners and farm workers – one in Wasco County and the other in Umatilla County. There was a total of 32 participants the two classes. The curriculum covered farm safety and common medical trauma injuries that can occur in agriculture. Topics included:
- Burns
- Amputations
- Impaled objects
- Shock
- Heat illness
- Capillary, arterial and venous bleeding
- CPR
- The use of torniquets
- Patient assessment
- Cervical spine stabilization
As a result of the trainings, survey respondents indicated that they learned new first aid skills and felt that the training will enable them to better respond to medical injuries on the farms that they own or work on. On a scale of 1 to 5 – with 1 being no understanding and 5 being complete mastery – 20 respondents indicated an initial understanding of farm first aid and farm safety topics starting at two and rated those topics at four following the course. This shows the impact the class had on increasing knowledge and understanding of vital first aid procedures and practices.
Farm First Aid classes started in 2021 and since then six classes have been taught reaching nearly 100 farm owners and employees across four different counties in North-Central Oregon.
It’s difficult to put an economic number on first aid training for farm workers, according to Powell. However, based on current research and from training evaluations, these trainings potentially saved farmers a total of $5,000 to $10,000, when including U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration fines and the financial and emotional costs of farm fatalities and debilitating injuries.
Many farm employers have requested that these trainings be made available in Spanish. Powell was able to get a $32,000 grant from the Western Extension Risk Management Education Center at Washington State University to expand farm first aid trainings in 2024-2025 to be in Spanish and create an online on demand bilingual Farm First Aid and Safety Course through OSU’s Professional and Continuing Education unit in the Division of Extension and Engagement.