Area fourth and fifth graders braved the wind on Wednesday to spend some time learning about safety at Veteran’s Park. With over 20 safety stations and demonstrations, students from three counties attended the event.
"The kids seem to be having a good time," said LaVeta Miller, coordinator of the event. "It’s all good. The first thing they learned was to dress for the weather."
She said the mission of the day was to teach some new ideas to the students.
The stations included sun safety, seat belt safety, fire safety, storm safety, digging safety, ATV safety, 9-1-1, 72 hour backpack, stranger danger, disability awareness, fire arm safety, mover/power tools, first aid, recycling, bike safety, internet safety, drug awareness, electrical safety, farm safety and drug awareness.
The students learned that a first aid kit should include things such as six pairs of gloves and plastic sandwich bags. The bags can be turned inside out and used to cover a wound.
"It’s a pretty neat thing", said Dan Curtis, volunteer, of the day. Curtis taught the first aid station.
To demonstrate the danger and the care needed around farm equipment, the volunteers showed the impact of someone’s clothing getting caught in farm tiller. "Do no wear loose clothing," said Charles Atkinson who was working at the exhibit. The children were shown the shredded clothing of an individual who got caught in farm equipment.
The fake dummy filled with straw was shredded when it got pulled into the tractor.
Volunteers from local electrical companies showed the students what happened when a high-powered electrical line was touched. Sparks flew from the wires. "Do not play around electric substations," the students were warned. A grapefruit was burned to show how only 20 percent of the damage showed on the outside, but 80 percent of the damage showed on the inside when the grapefruit was burned by electricity.
The 9th Annual Safety Day was sponsored by Central Prairie Resource Conservation and Development, which is a non-profit organization focusing on quality of life issues. Over 420 fourth and fifth graders attended.
