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Children view a safety demonstration at the Community Risk Reduction Open House.
Sharon Summers, secretary of Allendale County Fire & Rescue, leads a demonstration in how to properly use fire extinguishers.
In rural Allendale County, where ambulances and firetrucks can be up to 20 minutes away from a home, community knowledge of first aid, fire safety education and drug safety is a necessity for public health.
Thus was the purpose of the “Community Risk Reduction Open House,” an event held November 4 at the Allendale Fire Department that featured tables with different public health leaders. The term ‘risk reduction’ within public health is a new term that involves a large array of different measures.
“The state of South Carolina made a move to community risk reduction about three or four years ago,” said Sharon Summers, secretary of Allendale County Fire & Rescue. “We used to do fire prevention, but now fire departments are doing a whole lot more than just fire. We work medical, and we go out and we do rescue.”
Fire department education and limitations
In the event of a house fire, homes in the most rural parts of Allendale can face up to a 20-minute wait before a fire truck appears, according to Summers. Having proper education within those communities can help save lives, and reduce damage from fires when they occur.
Simple things like keeping the bedroom door closed while sleeping, not pouring water on a grease fire, or getting a free smoke alarm from the Allendale Fire Department can be lifesaving, but are not common knowledge throughout the community, Summers said. Although the fire department has about 50 volunteers, there are only six full-time firefighters for a county of over 400 square miles.
“It’s more hazardous out in the county [since] there’s not the public water system,” Summers said. “But, so far we’re pretty good about having the resources to do a water shuttle.”
Opioid crisis and harm reduction
Drug education was also a focus of the event, where Jessica Ohl, a public health educator at New Life Center, an outpatient agency, shared resources and information about drug safety.
“I’m trying to get into the schools and do presentations with them on opioids and vaping and educating [children],” said Ohl.
At the event, Ohl’s table gave out free containers of Narcan, a life-saving medication used to counteract the effects of opioids, as well as fentanyl test strips, which can help a user know if their drugs are clean. As overdoses from opioids, particularly fentanyl surge across the country, state and local governments are beginning to adopt policies that make both free.
Ohl said fentanyl overdose deaths have not become a regular occurrence in Allendale County, but “you gotta be prepared. That’s why we’re trying to get that information out to people to be prepared because we know it’s gonna make a difference.”
Emergency Medical Services and Emergency Management
At the event was Kara Troy, director for Allendale County Emergency Management. Troy said increasing the community’s awareness of what to do during extreme weather events has been a recent focus as climate change makes storms more intense year after year.
“We are actively working with the State Department, and we have meetings on top of meetings on top of meetings,” Troy said. “We’re always in works of trying to prepare for that.”
Increasing the number of community members who are educated in first aid is also critical for filling in the gaps in areas where EMS may not be able to reach in time, according to firefighter Joshua Rosier. In elderly communities, Rosier said, knowing how to perform chest compressions before an ambulance shows up is critical.
“It’s something everyone needs to know because if one person goes down, the other person needs to know how to do it,” Rosier said.
At the event, EMS used dummies to teach children how to perform chest compressions in the event that someone around them goes unconscious.
“If somebody collapses in Martin from a heart attack, or whatever the case is, it’s going to take our ambulance 20 minutes to get there,” said Summers. “If bystanders or family members or even the fire department first responders that are in that area, [and] we keep our members certified, they can go and assist with these calls because they might be five minutes away or two minutes away.”
