Rural Firefighters Delivering Agricultural Safety and Health (RF-DASH)
- Project Title: Rural Firefighters Delivering Agricultural Safety and Health (RF-DASH)
- Program Representatives Interviewed: Dr. Casper Bendixsen, Director of National Farm Medicine and Project Lead of RF-DASH; Megan Schossow, Center Coordinator and Director of Outreach
- Location: Minneapolis, MN
- Program Overview: The Upper Midwest Agricultural Safety and Health Center (UMASH) improves the health and safety of agricultural communities in the Upper Midwest through research, education, and outreach. UMASH leads several programs that provide agricultural safety and unintentional injury prevention trainings at worksites. In one effort, the Rural Firefighters Delivering Agricultural Safety and Health (RF-DASH) program trains firefighters using a train-the-trainer approach to educate agricultural workers in their community about farm safety. The program leverages firefighters as trusted community members in rural communities. The program has expanded over the years to reach 10 different states. The training covers topics such as agricultural injuries, farm emergency preparedness, first aid, community outreach, and farm hazard analyses. The interactive training usually takes place at agricultural sites and is best suited for classes of about 15 people. Resources to facilitate a training are publicly available on the RF-DASH website.
Read more about RF-DASH in our Rural Health Models and Innovations section.