Farmer injured in fall urges first aid take-up
BBCA farmer said he felt lucky to be alive after falling 15ft (4.5m) through a shed on to a concrete floor.
Ian Bowness, 52, from Aspatria in Cumbria, was repairing a roof when a rotten piece of timber gave way.
A Health and Safety Executive report in July said said agriculture had the worst rate for work-related fatal injuries in terms of fatalities per 100,000 people employed.
Mr Bowness is calling on more people to take first aid courses, such as those offered by farming charity F3A, which has taught almost 500 people life saving skills.
Mr Bowness fell on to concrete in March, and ended up with a broken leg and shattered heel.
"It was like falling through a trap door," he said.
"I could rhyme off a list of people who didn't survive something like that."
Mr Bowness said first aid courses were "literally lifesaving".
"It's essential sort of training that I think everyone at some point should undertake," he said.
F3A Farming and First Aid was set up by a group of volunteer medics in Cumbria.
One was Dr Mark Byers, a former army medic, who became concerned about the number of farmers being killed and injured.
"I made it clear that we could do more on the battlefield of Afghanistan for our people quicker than we could do for the farmers in our local area."
Dr Byers said he hoped to see F3A in every county in the country.
Another volunteer, Imogen Allen who is an anaesthetist in Newcastle, said the first aid training offered was specialised.
Dr Allen said: "These are things that are going to kill you quickly and fast.
"Often for people that aren't involved in health care they're not aware of that and they panicked they don't know what to do."
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