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Huron County Farm Bureau wanted to ensure the safety of its members so it sponsored a two-day farm medic training for 25 volunteer firefighters and emergency medical personnel. All but two emergency response departments in the county were represented.

"I was in the fire department for 25 years and lived on a farm all my life. I’ve seen my share of farm accidents," said Howard Verburg, safety coordinator for Huron County Farm Bureau. "When these medics and firefighters are raised in the city and have never been around farm equipment or animals, they have no idea how to respond to a farm accident."

The training was held at Huron County Farm Bureau members David and Beverly Seidel’s farm in Greenwich. Three certified farm medic instructors taught the group.

The first day of training was classroom instruction. The trainees watched videos and listened to instruction. At the end of the day, they were required to take and pass a test to continue the training.

The second day of training was hands-on. Farm equipment was displayed for the firefighters and medics to become familiar with. There were three mock farm accidents set up – a tractor turned over on a dummy, a corn head with a dummy caught in it and a dummy stuck in an auger.

After the training was complete, the firefighters and medics received a certificate.

"Not every firefighter and medic in the county was trained, but there were enough departments represented, that I feel our farmers are in much better hands," Verburg said.

Cutline: Huron County medics and firefighters received training specific to farm accidents in a two-day session sponsored by Huron County Farm Bureau. The county conducted a similar training in 1994, pictured here.