Pediatric Farm-Related Injuries: Safeguarding Children Who Visit or Live on Farms

Summary: Injuries are the most common cause of death for children and adolescents, and farms and ranches present many unique hazards to youth. During this presentation, we will discuss many of these including augers, grain bins, gravity boxes, tractors, power take-offs (PTOs), manure pits, chemical exposures, animals, and gasoline-powered pressure sprayers. One of the most common causes of serious injuries and deaths to youth on farms and ranches are the use of off-road vehicles (ORVs) like all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), utility task vehicles (UTVs), and recreational off-highway vehicles (ROVs). The safety concerns and prevention strategies related to ORVs will be a featured segment of the presentation. A general overview of how the growth and development of youth affect the risk of injury, and the role healthcare providers can assume to impact injury prevention will be discussed.

Intended Audience: Anyone working with youth in agriculture, and rural healthcare providers

Objectives: At the end of this webinar, participants will be able to…

Name at least four specific safety hazards on farms and express how one might counsel families to prevent injuries from those hazards.
Describe what a PTO is and how one avoids injuries associated with them.
State at least two ways to prevent injury when operating tractors.
Convey how one would attempt the rescue of someone caught in a grain bin, or manage an extremity caught in an auger.
Explain at least three reasons why off-road vehicles like all-terrain vehicles and utility task vehicles are not designed to be used on roads.

Charles Jennissen, MD

Clinical Professor, University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine

Charles Jennissen, MD, is a pediatric emergency medicine physician and a Clinical Professor in the Departments of Pediatrics and Emergency Medicine at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine. Dr. Jennissen grew up on a dairy farm in central Minnesota. This plays a large part in his interest in safety and injury prevention, particularly regarding children and teens, and those who work and live on farms. Most of his research activities have addressed injury-related issues, especially those involving off-road vehicles. Dr. Jennissen is very active in the Iowa ATV Safety Taskforce and is a member of a national coalition led by the Consumer Federation of America that has been working to inform the public and governing officials of the dangers of off-road vehicles on public roads. He has been an advisory board member of I-CASH (Iowa Center for Agricultural Safety and Health) for 22 years. He is proud to have received the SAFE KIDS Iowa “People Who Make a Difference” Award in 2006.