By Warren Scott
Staff writer (wscott@heraldstaronline.com.)
The Herald-Star (Steubenville, OH)
Follansbee,
WV - Area first-responders and
staff at two local schools came together Tuesday to talk to fifth-graders about
riding safely on all-terrain vehicles.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has reported in
the last 30 years at least 2,775 children under age 16 died of ATV-related
accidents and at least 807,000 were treated in emergency rooms for injuries
resulting from ATV use.
Shawn Durbin, an emergency medical technician with the
Brooke County Ambulance Service, said there are signs the number of ATV
accidents in West Virginia have dropped somewhat. But that doesn't diminish the
need to educate new ATV riders about proper use of the vehicles, he said.
That's why he and his wife Dana Durbin, a teacher at Follansbee Middle School, decided to organize an
ATV Safety Day for fifth-graders at the school. And with the cooperation of the
Brooke County Board of Education, fifth-graders from Wellsburg Middle School
were bused to the school to participate.
The couple's efforts also have expanded to include an ATV
and bicycle safety program at Hooverson
Heights Primary
School that was begun last year.
The two have recruited other staff with the Brooke County
Ambulance Service; prevention and resource officers from the Brooke County
Sheriff's Department; Ron Hagerty, an instructor with the ATV Safety Institute;
and school nurses to talk to the pupils about ATVs.
Hagerty said he stresses riding an ATV that is built for
their age group, wearing helmets, gloves and long sleeves and pants to protect
themselves against tree branches and "absolutely no passengers."
He said to properly guide an ATV, riders must lean forward
and shift their body, something that can't be done with a passenger hanging on.
"As long as you explain to them the reasons why, they
seem to listen to what we are telling them to do," Hagerty said.
The ambulance service crew drew from experience as members
explained how they might treat the victim of an ATV accident while loading him
or her onto a stretcher for transport to an area hospital.
And Brooke County Sheriff's Deputy Larry Palmer, prevention
and resource officer for the two middle schools, spoke about laws regulating
ATV use, including a prohibition against their being used on paved, lined roads
and the requirement that all riders complete an ATV safety course and wear
helmets.
Hagerty said in addition to avoiding trespassing, there's
another good reason for ATV riders to stay on their own property. Many
accidents result from riders entering unfamiliar and hazardous terrain, he
said.
Brooke
County school nurses
Susan Haney, Mary Kay Pepe and Bonnie Kerr discussed injuries common with ATV
accidents and used wheelchairs and other means to show pupils what it would be
like if they lost the use of their legs or arms.
A frequent participant in the programs has been the STAT
MedEvac medical helicopter crew, but its visit Tuesday was curtailed by the
inclement weather.
But a number of pupils indicated the day was memorable for
them, nevertheless.
Anthony Pannett, a pupil at Follansbee Middle School,
said the wheelchair simulation was the most memorable for him.
Carli Julio, also of Follansbee Middle, agreed, saying she
learned "if you lost your arm, how you would do stuff" as well as
"how people wreck by doing the wrong things."
Katherine Marks, a pupil at Wellsburg Middle School,
said she learned the importance of wearing a helmet "to protect your
brain."
All of the pupils received T-shirts bearing ATV safety
rules.
