Scots farmers are teaming up with an air ambulance charity to launch a new scheme to help better pinpoint where they are if they are ever involved in rural accidents.
NFU Scotland and Scotland’s Charity Air Ambulance (SCAA), together with the Scottish Ambulance Service, is encouraging farmers to carry around a pocket-sized card containing the grid references of key landmarks on their land.
Statistics reveal that those employed in the rural and agricultural sectors across Scotland are at a greater risk of accident than all other professions.
According to NFUS, details from the reference point cards, which will include landmarks such as lochs, hills, churhces and masts, can be copied and kept in multiple locations by everyone on the farm. These include farm vehicles, workers’ pockets and stuck to the back of mobile phones.
“With the number of accidents increasing in the agricultural industry year on year, a simple tool like knowing a suitable location for the emergency services to find a casualty could potentially save time and in turn lives,” said NFUS regional co-ordinator Lisa Roberts.
“Farming communities, especially those in more rural and remote areas, rely heavily on the services of responders such as SCAA and by working together to raise awareness of the importance of the identification of accurate locations, we can hopefully help emergency services locate the casualty quickly.”