Kentucky Department of Agriculture

A Cincinnati company donated rescue equipment to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Farm and Home Safety Program on July 3.

Emergency Equipment gave an All-Terrain Res-Q Trailer, a MedLite Transport Deluxe medical/rescue bed insert, and a stretcher manufactured by Junkin Safety Appliance Company of Louisville.

“I want to thank you on behalf of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture and the farmers of Kentucky for everything you’re doing,” Agriculture Commissioner James Comer told Mike Brady of Emeregency Equipment. “The Farm and Home Safety Program is making a difference. You can look at the number of farm accidents and ATV accidents and deaths in Kentucky, and we’re getting better every year. I think it’s a direct result of [the program]. We appreciate your partnership and your corporate support.”

“I know for a fact … the Farm and Home Safety Program has reduced farm fatalities and injuries in Kentucky,” Brady said. “Also, since it started teaching ATV safety and rescue, we are no longer No. 1 in ATV fatalities. We have dropped considerably. I think that’s all part of what [program coordinator Dale Dobson] has been teaching. We’re very proud to provide the equipment to assist in that.”

Farm fatalities in Kentucky have declined from 50 in 1995 to as few as nine in 2009. Twelve farming-related fatalities were reported in 2010, according to the Kentucky Injury Prevention and Research Center.

The Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s Farm and Home Safety Program travels to every county in Kentucky to deliver safety messages to schools, farm groups, civic organizations, and other groups that request a presentation. The program operates a one-of-a-kind rollover tractor simulator, which demonstrates the correct use of a rollover protective structure (ROPS) on a tractor, and a miniature grain bin and wagon. For more information on the Farm and Home Safety Program, go to the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s website, www.kyagr.com.

 

Mike Brady of Emergency Equipment, second from right, presents an All-Terrain Res-Q trailer and Junkin stretcher to Agriculture Commissioner James Comer, second from left. Also present were Steve Mobley, left, and Dale Dobson, right, coordinator of the Kentucky Department of Agriculture's Farm and Home Safety Program. (Photo by Ted Sloan)