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EMTs Working at Chiquita
As written by Patricia A. Harris, EMT-P
In 1994, I started working for Agripac to supplement my income. I learned
of this job from a co-worker at Santiam Ambulance, and now this has become
my primary job. Since then, Agripac/Agrifrozen went bankrupt and the portion
of the company called Agripac was bought by Chiquita.
There are five EMT employees employed here and what we mainly do is basic
first aid and try to keep workman's comp claims down by treating employees
in-house. A lot of what we do is just band-aids and headaches, but we also
see a lot of muscle strain and carpal tunnel. This is where knowledge of
body mechanics comes in, as we will modify a job to alleviate any strain to
the employee's injured body part.
Last year, I treated a co-worker/patient that was using the wrong saw for
the job and had taken the saw's guard off. The saw bucked and cut him
across the inside of his wrist. The lacerations cut the vein and luckily
not the artery, but it still would not stop bleeding. Even with a pressure
bandage, elevation, ice and pressure point it would not stop bleeding. This
co-worker was sent to the E.R. by ambulance. I was later told that he had
18 sutures on the inside and 25 sutures on the outside of his wrist.
I have also treated two co-workers who had their index finger amputated.
Even though we saved the amputated portion, neither finger could be saved.
We have had people hit by lift truck forks, which have resulted in fractured
femurs and fibula-tibia fracture. My first year on the job I treated an
elderly man who was having a heart attack.
Besides doing first aid, we also do weekly safety inspections, looking
for and helping implement ideas that make the job safer or easier for the
employees. We make sure all the employees are following the safety rules
and are OSHA compliant. We also do daily plant inspections to make sure
that the equipment has their guards on and employers are using the lock
out - tag out etc.
Patricia A. Harris, EMT-P
Currently working for Chiquita
Oregon certified since 1985
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