The Rural Voice, 2004-11, Page 16PREPARING FOR THE WORST
There are special dangers in dealing with
emergencies on farms. A new training centre helps
emergency workers prepare.
Story by Bonnie Gropp
Photos by Dianne Josling
Seen from high atop the training tower the Emergency Services Training
Centre (on opening day)'features several structures to train firefighters for
farm emergencies.
he rural way of life draws a
T
peaceful portrait — pastoral
fields of rich greens and
burnished taupe in spring, summer
and, fall; an unending landscape of
white in winter.
On the surface it appears to be a
picture of serenity. Yet it's home to
an industry as valuable as that in any
city, a productive lifestyle which
despite its calm appearance, can be
dangerous. For emergency personnel,
the challenges they face in
agricultural communities are unique
and many. Now, thanks to a new
training centre for rural fire
12 THE RURAL VOICE
departments, they will be better
prepared.
Blyth's volunteer fire department
began discussions about the dearth of
specific training for emergency
services people in rural areas a
couple of years ago. The grand
opening for their new training centre,
located at the south edge of the
village was held this past summer.
Blyth fire chief Paul Josling said
that the majority of calls for his
department are agriculturally -related.
Most of these deal with farm
machinery. Until now most farm
machinery training has been done by
the Municipal Health and Training
Association (MHTA), which
typically go to farm machinery
dealers' yards to use equipment,
Josling explained.
The Blyth site, which was co-
ordinated by captain David Sparling,
has been designed with rural
communities in mind and the rural
work the emergency people have to
do. "Regular extrication equipment
really doesn't work on farm
machinery. That's the biggest thing
(trainees) will get from this,"
Sparling said.
"It is going to be a huge benefit to
rural departments," adds Josling.
The centre has a number of farm
machines which have been donated
to the effort. "You have to be trained
specifically on that type of
equipment. Otherwise responding to
a call could be dangerous to our
personnel. The repercussions could
be drastic," said Josling.
Understanding the equipment
means knowing what the results will
be from certain actions. "You've got
to know what's going to happen
when you pull that hydraulic hose for
example," said Josling.
While such training is perhaps
more specific to rural areas, Josling
notes that it can benefit urban
departments as well. The intention of
the training centre in Blyth is for
emergency personnel from all over
the province to use it. "I was down in
Toronto recently and just outside the
airport there were two combines
doing beans in the field. The
possibility is there for them to need
this training."
John Parish, a volunteer firefighter
with Leeds and the Thousand Islands
department, and a co-ordinator of
emergency program with MHTA said
that urban departments encompass
more of the rural area than one might
assume. "The agriculture rescue
program deals with farm machinery.
Urban areas have heavy equipment
and a lot of techniques will be the
same. The same techniques can be
used in a plant or a farm. There is a
lot of crossover which we do
intentionally. The conveyor in the
plant is the same system as that on a
combine."
Besides big machinery, farmers
also work with big animals. In the
event of an animal -related injury,