Rural Emergencies: Prevention and TreatmentDo you work on a farm, ranch, agricultural

setting, or a hobby farm?

This is a two part program with the focus of protecting agricultural workers by first identifying them with occupational coding, then by bringing the nurses to them with a certificate for nurses based off of the Agrisafe certificate.

Automatically Populate:• Ergonomics• General Health

Information• Warning Signs for a

Stroke or Heart AttackDo you have children that play, work, or

live around the agricultural setting?Automatically Populate:• Safe Play • Lock-out Tag-out• Child related information

to any other question answered yes

Does the facility you work on use a tractor?Automatically Populate:• Safety and Operations• Hearing Protection• ROPS/CROPS• Lock-out Tag-out

Do you work around any machinery powered by

batteries, electronics, or fuel?Automatically Populate:• Safety• Hearing Protection• Respirator use• Tourniquets• Silo/grain bin safety• Lock-out Tag-outDo you work with or around any

animals?Automatically Populate:• Stockmanship• Zoonotic

Diseases

Certificate

Nursing 230In nursing 230 my honors project was to

complete a blog. My blog was about safe tractor operations, roll-over protection systems (ROPS), and the proper age for children to be

around or work with tractors.

Nursing 240In nursing 240 I completed a teaching learning

project about tourniquets. This teaching learning project will be taught to agricultural

workers by the nurses who receive the certificate.

Nursing 245In nursing 245 we needed to complete a

clinical decision making paper based off a case scenario and incorporate it with our honors topic. I focused on the need for

early detection of heart attacks and strokes, because of the limited access and distance of the rural population.

Nursing 330In nursing 330 we needed to write a paper about an ethical dilemma. My dilemma was children working and

playing around the potentially dangerous agricultural setting.

Nursing 345In nursing 345 we were to complete a clinical decision

making paper on a patient we had and how our honors topic integrates with this patient. My patient

was an agricultural worker who had chronic back pain, history of heart attacks, and was not up to date on his immunizations. My teaching for him was on proper ergonomics, the early signs of stroke and

heart attack, and on immunizations.

Independent Study 399This independent study was to identify the common

causes of injury in the agricultural setting and how to prevent them with a paper. Then I was to create two individual teaching learning projects. The first

was to teach agricultural workers about the potential injuries and the best way to prevent them, the second was how to treat those common injuries until they were able to have emergency personnel

respond.

Independent Study 499This independent study was to attend the Upper

Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Forum (UMASH), and to write a summary paper about it. The UMASH forum is where this idea came from; with the identification of the need to have occupational coding to identify agricultural workers, to bring the safety knowledge to the agricultural worker, and the areas that need most to be taught to the agricultural workers.

Nursing 470For nursing 470 we had to create a policy paper. My policy was to integrate occupational coding for agricultural workers with an automatic population of teaching materials. It was also to create a new certificate that is based off my findings as well as the AgriSafe certificate for nurses to better protect and educate agricultural workers.

This certificate is based off the AgriSafe certificate for nurses which helps nurses and other professionals gain information to better educate the agricultural worker that may be their patient. Topics included in the AgriSafe certificate are; integration of ag health, special risk populations, injury, zoonotic diseases,

transportation hazards, respiratory health, ergonomics, personal protective equipment, skin cancer, and behavioral health. I will add prevention strategies for injuries as well as first aid treatment for those common injuries. If only ten percent of the nurses in Wisconsin receive this certificate and visit 14 agricultural

settings then every agricultural setting in Wisconsin could be addressed.

Catherine Sires