In this blog post, Moira Fisher, Trustee of F3A explains the charity’s first aid mission as it teams up with the Yorkshire Agricultural Society to deliver specialist training to Yorkshire farmers.
It is an all-too-familiar fact that agriculture has the worst rate of worker fatal injury. Every ten days someone dies on a farm in the UK.
This is a great concern to famers, employers and staff and it is a situation that simply must change.
And it is a cause that is close to my heart, having lost my brother John to a farm accident many years ago.
I’m proud to be a trustee for F3A, a charity which specialises in providing first aid training for farmers, forestry workers and those living in remote rural areas.
F3A is a charity that was born out of first-hand experiences.
Colin Lindsay, F3A’s founder and a fellow trustee, has seen his fair share of accidents on farms during his time as a livestock vet based in Cumbria and having grown up on a farm.
Colin is all too aware that sadly not every incident has a successful outcome.
Whilst undertaking some medical training himself, it became apparent to Colin that there were well proven technologies, equipment and techniques which were not being widely used as part of the first aid response to the types of injuries sustained on farms and in forestry.
Colin went on to team up with Mark Byers, a specialist Trauma Consultant after a fatal farm accident in their locality. They were determined to make a difference.
A tailored industry intervention
Drawing on his skills, Mark developed F3A’s first aid training course in conjunction with specialist Trauma doctors and paramedics.
The aim is to provide a practical, ‘hands-on’ course aimed at the types of injuries sustained on farms.
The training and self-save kits allow farmers to recognise and treat critical life-threatening injuries, stabilising patients in that critical first hour until emergency services arrive.
Since the first training course was held in 2020, F3A has trained about 400 farmers in potentially life-saving first aid techniques.
Initially, the courses have been held in Cumbria but now F3A’s reach extends to the south of Scotland, Northumberland and County Durham.
Thanks to the support of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society and DEFRA funding, we are now going to offering courses throughout Yorkshire.
Crossing borders
If you farm in Yorkshire, then I would heartily encourage you to consider taking our three-hour course, at a price that will be heavily subsidised by the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.
Look out for course dates in the coming months.
You will cover all sorts, from the aims of first aid, scene safety and the role of the First Aider, to assessing a casualty, using the recovery position and safe CPR, as well as the treatment of crush injuries, and responding to amputations, impalements and severe bleeding.
We deliver courses on farm and at auction markets for between eight and 10 attendees.
Recruitment
To roll out this training throughout Yorkshire, we are now looking to recruit more paramedics, doctors and nurses who have a specialist interest in pre-hospital care and emergency medicine.
If this is you and you are passionate about making a positive difference, then you would be very welcome to come along and meet me and the F3A team at the Great Yorkshire Showground on 26th September when we will be explaining what’s involved at a recruitment event for prospective volunteers.
Just register your place here and we will look forward to meeting you as we continue to do what we can to limit the toll of serious injuries and fatalities on farms.
The Yorkshire Agricultural Society is one of a consortium of well-established agricultural organisations that has secured £150,000 from Defra to deliver health and well-being support to farmers and rural communities across the North over the next two years.
F3A has been commissioned to deliver first aid training in Yorkshire with a portion of this funding.
With the funds, the partners – which also include The Farmer Network Ltd, Upper Teesdale Agricultural Support Services and Field Nurse – seek to enhance their collective mission to build connected and resilient farming communities, and “keep farming stronger for longer”.
Find out more by clicking on the image below.
