By TESA NAUMAN
Tennessee Correspondent

JACKSON, Tenn. — If a visitor to your farm had a medical emergency, would you know what to do? Officials with the Tennessee Department of Agriculture (TDA) hope you will after attending their farm safety workshops.

The workshops will be conducted Aug. 5 in Jackson at the University of Tennessee Agricultural Experiment Station; Aug. 6 in Nashville at the Ellington Agricultural Center Ed Jones Auditorium; and Aug. 7 in Morristown at Walters State Community College Ag Pavilion. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., and the workshops begin at 9 a.m. at each location.

“Farmers know from a lifetime of experience the importance of personal safety on the farm. However, preparing for visitors and ensuring their safety is a whole different ballgame and requires careful planning, and there are many things to consider,” said Pamela Bartholomew, agritourism coordinator with the TDA.

Participating agritourism operators will also be trained on recommended responses to a variety of health emergencies. Each participant will be trained by the American Red Cross to handle emergency situations. The training will include an overview of first aid and will culminate with certification in CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) and AED (automated external defibrillator) use.
Cynthia Kent, creative resources coordinator for the TDA, said the workshops are important because they teach people how to deal with medical emergencies, particularly in areas where medical help might be far away.

“(The workshops) are something we’ve wanted to provide for our agritourism producers. A lot of them live, as you would expect, in rural areas, and this is an opportunity for them to know that they’re doing the very best they can should (a medical emergency) occur,” she said.

“One of the things they’re going to do in the workshops is help people develop an emergency plan so they’ll have something written down (to refer to) if something happens,” she said, adding that a written plan helps avoid precious time being wasted during an emergency, when people tend to freeze or panic because they don’t know what to do.

Another benefit of the safety workshop is that participants will be eligible for a 50 percent cost share reimbursement for approved agritourism projects through the Tennessee Agricultural Enhancement Program. The program is part of a comprehensive initiative to build farm income, including agritourism operations, Kent said.

“The mission of the Tennessee Agricultural Enhancement Program is help build farm income by helping farmers make improvements and expansions, and to give them the ability to try new things so that they can make more money right there at the farm. Agritourism is one of those options,” she said.

“So, even if the people don’t participate in one of the workshops, agritourism operators are still eligible for a 35 percent cost share reimbursement on an approved project.”

To register for a workshop, call 615-837-5106. For more information, call Bartholomew at 615-837-5348 or e-mail Pamela.Bartholomew@TN.gov