A first aid program with the aim of equipping anyone who works on a farm with the tools they need to deal with injuries that may be suffered in a farm setting has been launched by Alberta based Ag For Life in partnership with St. John’s Ambulance.

Ag For Life Marketing and Communications Coordinator Kaley Segboer tells Rural Roots Canada the Safety on the Farm First Aid training program provides participants with the standard level first aid as well a first aid on the farm certificate.

“They (farmers and ranchers) definitely have unique sets of challenges and work in unique situations, says Segboer adding, “by taking a first aid course where you talk about what are the likely injuries and incidents that happen on farms and to be cautious of them gives an opportunity to discuss some of the challenges if you are dealing with an injury on a farm or ranch because you are typically in a remote location farther away from emergency services.”

Farm First Aid Participants learning about the recovery position at today’s program launch with @stjohn_ab pic.twitter.com/lePeKRkSqr

— Agriculture for Life (@4AgForLife) March 16, 2017

Segboer says the program was piloted ahead of its launch in Grande Prairie this past week to ensure it was strong.

“The feedback from those participants has been outstanding, they learned a lot and it really brought a lot of practical applications for those participants.” “We’re really excited to be launching this program.”

Segboer says groups and organizations across the province are welcome to contact them about bringing the program to their community.

“Since the launch this week, we’ve had a number of different communities reach out to us, so we definitely see it expanding across the province.”

The program was launched as part of Canadian Agricultural Safety Week, which takes place the third week of March every year.