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AgriSafe in Action Newsletter
August 2023 Edition
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It is our pleasure to announce the newest member of the AgriSafe team, Jessica Salerno. She will be joining AgriSafe as our Nurse Scholar Program Director. Jessica is a 2021 Nurse Scholar graduate and has been advocating for the program ever since! She brings a diverse educational and clinical background to her new role. She is passionate about providing sustainable, holistic, and comprehensive care to rural populations and believes that the Nurse Scholars program is an important component for providing informed healthcare service to these vitally important agricultural communities.
Jessica completed her Family Nurse Practitioner MS(N) training at Western Carolina University, has a BS in Nursing from the University of North Carolina, and she is board certified through the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. Throughout North Carolina and upstate New York, Jessica has worked with patients of all ages and backgrounds in a number of rural healthcare settings. As a nurse practitioner (NP), she has experience in primary care, plus occupational and agricultural medicine. In addition to her NP work, Jessica has over a decade of nursing experience, having worked in procedural nursing, refugee health, and communicable disease. Prior to her work and education in nursing, she studied horticulture and worked in agricultural research and natural habitat restoration.
We are very excited to have Jessica on board! You can reach out to Jessica via email at jsalerno@agrisafe.org.
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Talking TFH® Podcast: Telehealth Part 2
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This episode of TTFHpod continues Linda's discussion with Randy McKinney on rural telehealth! In this episode, learn about where to find a telehealth provider, how to prepare for a telehealth appointment, and steps to take to get the most out of your visit. If you are a healthcare provider, maybe give this episode a listen and share it with your patients!
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Forestry and Logger Safety FREE Trainings |
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In case you missed it: free Forestry and Logger Safety webinars are available on-demand!
Forestry and logging workers face many physical dangers. They are a part of one of the most hazardous industries, with high job-related injury, illness, and fatality rates. Through education, AgriSafe aims to provide foresters and loggers with the knowledge and tools necessary to protect themselves from becoming a part of these alarming statistics.
Click on the underlined titles to access our on-demand trainings! Our primary audience for these trainings are: workers in forestry and logging, including fallers, first-line supervisors/managers of forestry workers, logging equipment operators, sawing machine setters, operators/tenders, truck drivers, and safety and health professionals.
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Chainsaw Safety Training- The Chainsaw Safety training program is intended for workers and managers in the agricultural and forestry industries. The major focus of the program is on the identification of and the safe operation of chainsaws. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 36,000 people are injured by chainsaws annually.
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Musculoskeletal and Ergonomic Safety for Forest Workers- Forest workers face unique ergonomic challenges due to their exposure to extreme environmental conditions, heavy workloads, and dangerous tools and machines. This program is intended to help forest workers identify ergonomic issues leading to musculoskeletal injuries and discover resources to aid in injury treatment and prevention.
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Preventing Workplace Violence for Forestry Workers- Forestry and logging workers are exposed to a range of biological hazards, extreme weather, accidents, and –especially for women– assault. In this presentation, AgriSafe will focus on educating forestry employees and their employers on reporting violent incidents to authorities, informing employees of their legal rights, and safe work practices.
Upcoming live training dates (click on the titles to register):
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National Farm Safety and Health Week Webinars |
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This year National Farm Safety and Health Week (NFSHW) will take place from September 17-23, 2023, and the theme is No One Can Take Your Place! Each weekday during NFSHW, AgriSafe will host two free webinars related to that day's designated health and safety topic. Attend at least 3 webinars to receive a NFSHW Champion digital badge! Live interpretation in Spanish will be available for all NFSHW webinars. If you are unable to attend, all webinars will be accessible via our Learning Lab after they have occured.
Click on the flyer to view/download the pdf, feel free to share it through your communication channels!
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Cultivating a Healthy Mind:
Interactive Student Module
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Now Available! Cultivating a Healthy Mind (CHM) is one of AgriSafe's free Invest in Your Health lessons designed for youth (ages 14-23) in agricultural communities. It opens the floor for an introductory discussion of mental health among teens and young adults, with guidance from an adult educator.
Focus is placed on decreasing stigma, improving mental health literacy, and teaching positive coping skills for teens and young adults. Teachers, you can assign your students to take the self-paced learning module here and then facilitate an activity from our guidebook linked at the bottom of the module page. For more information on Cultivating a Healthy Mind or Invest in Your Health, visit agrisafe.org/iyh or email Knesha Rose-Davison.
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National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM) |
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National Immunization Awareness Month (NIAM) is an annual observance held in August to highlight the importance of routine vaccination for people of all ages. Use the NIAM graphics and share vaccine resources to help promote routine vaccination on various social media platforms and websites!
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all aspects of life, including people's ability to attend important appointments and receive routine vaccinations. During NIAM, talk to your doctor, nurse, or healthcare provider to ensure you and your family are protected against serious diseases by getting caught up on routine vaccination.
All staff in healthcare practices, including non-clinical staff, play important roles during NIAM:
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AgriSafe’s FarmResponse:
Looking Back at the First Year
Thursday, August 24
12 pm - 1 pm CDT
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Zoonotic Disease and Pregnancy:
A Deeper Dive
Wednesday, August 30
12 pm - 1 pm CDT
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Minnesota FarmFest 2023
Late summer growing season is the perfect time to talk about the best personal protective practices for the upcoming harvest season in the Midwest. The MN FarmFest included a wide range of exhibits, demonstrations, and workshops highlighting innovations in farming technology, sustainable practices, and agricultural equipment - it was the perfect place to have health and safety conversations with farmers and ranchers!
Linda And Emanuel and Stacey Jenkins took turns representing AgriSafe at FarmFest (August 3-5) in the UMASH Ag Safety and Health Tent, where they shared information about respiratory health, mental wellness, and other available programs and training! Many thanks to Megan Schossow for the invitation to participate and for coordinating all the ag safety and health space exhibitors. We appreciate these opportunities to outreach and collaborate with great partners!
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Virginia Ag Expo
AgriSafe's Health Communications Officer, Laura Siegel, tabled at the Virginia Ag Expo on Thursday August 3rd on Land of Promise Farms in Virginia Beach, VA. Laura promoted the AgriStress Helpline for VA, Cultivating a Healthy Mind, QPR, and more. The Virginia Soybean Growers Association was a crucial partner, helping us to spread the work about mental health and well-being for farmers and ranchers. Notably, the governor of Virginia spoke at this event to thank agricultural producers for their work!
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Pennsylvania Ag Progress Days
Our Total Farmer Health Coach, Allison Maloney, and our intern Layne Swanger, tabled for three days at the Pennsylvania Ag Progress Days from August 8th-10th! Since the Pennsylvania Department of Ag is funding more FarmResponse trainings for healthcare professionals in PA, Allison and Layne focused on promoting that in addition to Cultivating a Healthy Mind, QPR for Farmers and Farm Families, and the AgriStress Helpline for Pennsylvania. In exciting news, AgriSafe worked closely with Mark Critz from the PA Department of Ag, and Linda Fetzer, from Penn State Extension, to promote farmer and rancher mental well-being!
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Pennsylvania Ag Educator Summer Conference
Allison Maloney tabled at the Pennsylvania Association of Ag Educators (PAAE) Summer Conference from July 10th-13th! The focus of this event was to "Soar to Greatness in Agricultural Education" and Allison focused on promoting the AgriStress Helpline for Pennsylvania and "Cultivating a Healthy Mind," a youth mental well-being curriculum. If you are an ag educator and haven't checked out Cultivating a Healthy Mind or our other free ag curriculums, check out the on-demand trainings here.
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