Kennett woman creates CPR training event for local farmers

KENNETT, Mo. (KAIT) - A Kennett woman is organizing an event to give farmers in the area free CPR training. She got the idea after hearing news of a farmer dying of a heart attack while on the job.

Tina Brown was heartbroken when she heard paramedics couldn’t get to the farmer in time. It made her think of what could happen if her husband, a Kennett farmer, ever faced a medical emergency in the field.

“If it took 20 minutes for an ambulance to get to him and 20 minutes or more to get to a hospital, then his window of opportunity to be saved would be limited,” she said.

So, she hatched an idea. On Feb. 23, that idea will become reality.

“I kind of got a brainstorm and I thought ‘you know what? I’m going to get as many farmers certified in CPR as possible’,” she said. “I think this is going to help make them aware of how important it is to be trained. I had farmers that said they had been training in high school or 15 years ago that didn’t know if they’d remember.”

The training event will feature a two-hour training session, catering, and door prizes that include medical equipment that can be used on the farm in case of emergency. Anyone in or around the farming industry can register. That includes farmers, farmhands, spouses, children, and others. The last day to register is Feb. 15. To register, you can contact Brown on Facebook here.

Despite attempts to get one for several years, Kennett has no hospital, only an Urgent Care Center. So any medical training farmers can receive could potentially be the difference between life and death if anything were to happen out in the fields.

“I think we all need to realize how vulnerable we are as a community,” Brown said.

She said it might be hard to schedule two hours for training, but if that training saves even one life, it would be well worth it.