Rural Firefighters Expand Farm Safety Training Nationwide
The Rural Firefighters Delivering Agriculture Safety and Health (RF-DASH) program is expanding its reach with the appointment of its first full-time trainer.
With backing from the CHS Foundation and the Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center, Tim Zehnder will lead training sessions nationwide, helping implement farm and ranch safety measures. Zehnder brings extensive experience in farming, emergency response, and preparedness.
Agriculture remains one of the most hazardous professions in the country. Research from the National Farm Medicine Center highlights that rural emergency responders are trusted sources for safety information.
RF-DASH builds on this by equipping rural fire departments with tools to promote emergency readiness and risk reduction on farms.
Now in its ninth year, the program operates in 16 U.S. states and five Canadian provinces, having trained over 170 first responders. Many of these responders have gone on to train others within their departments and surrounding communities.
The RF-DASH team has also introduced a virtual Community of Practice, fostering collaboration among trainers across North America.
Additionally, an online training version is in development with support from the University of Wisconsin Institute for Clinical and Translational Research.
Zehnder, employed by Ex Environmental, has decades of fire service experience. Since beginning his career in 1990 in Truman, Minn., Zehnder has held leadership roles in training and fire science programs.
Zehnder expertise includes grain bin rescues, farm vehicle extrication, and confined space rescues. Zehnder also co-produced a grain bin rescue video with Jay Pennfield for Fire Engineering Books and Videos.
“I am very excited to take the RF-DASH program to the next level,” Zehnder said. “This program brings the rural fire service and the farm and ranch community together to not only make it safer for the responding department, but to give the farm and ranch community the opportunity to make their places safer for their families and employees."
Over the next 18 months, RF-DASH will develop custom training modules focused on grain harvesting, handling, and storage, with 18 sessions planned in the U.S. grain belt.
“This is going to be an exciting time for the RF-DASH program,” said Casper Bendixsen, Ph.D., the principal investigator of the project. “We have had so much interest in the training modules from around the country. Thanks to new funding from the CHS Foundation, we can finally meet the demand for in-person training at farms that handle grain.”
For firefighter training inquiries or program implementation, contact tim@exenvironmental.com or rfdash@marshfieldresearch.org. Visit https://rfdash.org/ for more details.
Photo Credit: pexels-islandhopper-x