This year, through a series of community profiles and safety awareness programs, a trio of local groups hopes to raise the public profile of the agencies and volunteers who work tirelessly throughout the county’s busiest season to aid and assist those in danger.
KZMU-FM, Sageland Media and Four Corners Community Behavioral Health will produce a series of radio spots and short documentaries profiling Grand County Search and Rescue, Grand County Emergency Medical Services, Allen Memorial Hospital and St. Mary’s Careflight, Volunteer Fire Department, CERT, TIPS and the Southeastern Utah Department of Health. The group has also assembled volunteers from Grand County High School who, after receiving agency training, will take to the streets to help educate community members and visitors on important safety information as part of a “safety first” campaign that will also include distributing an “extreme safety” poster with the theme “Have fun. Be Safe” for use in area businesses.
The “Extreme Safety” project received $55,500 from Sound Partners for Community Health, a grant funded through the Benton and Robert Wood Johnson Foundations. Each program partner must also contribute services and other materials equaling about 25-percent of the grant total.
“We’re trying to heighten awareness of safety in our community,” said Candee Pearson, coordinator of the effort for Four Corners Behavioral Health. “We want visitors to know we care about their safety, and we want them to have fun and come back safely.”
Grand County EMTs, Search and Rescue, and other agencies will teach the high school students important safety tips including the importance of carrying adequate water, staying put when lost, and other backcountry travel points. The students, in turn, will distribute that information to visitors and local residents, Pearson said. Training is set to begin March 2, and additional training sessions will be arranged as necessary.
The project is also meant to highlight Grand County’s stellar safety volunteers including the EMTs, Search and Rescue personnel, Fire Department volunteers and others, she said.
“In Moab, we have many volunteers that give their time without getting something back in return. We want to showcase our health care system and how it works,” Pearson said. “We are inundated with visitors each year, and we want to showcase these folks who go all out to help them.”
So far about 20 students have signed on as volunteers, and Pearson said the group still needs additional volunteers including adults who are willing to supervise and chaperone the students while they do their work in town.
The volunteers will wear red caps and golden yellow t-shirts to help visitors easily identify them, Pearson said. The volunteers will make their debut on March 12 at the 30th annual Canyonlands Half Marathon, where they will be stationed at the finish line, Pearson said.
Meanwhile, KZMU and Sageland Media are working with high school students to develop a series of “radio documentaries” and short films that highlight local health and safety agencies and profile their work, said Bruce Hucko, director of the radio project for KZMU. Moab’s community radio station has already begun running a series of public service announcements highlighting safety tips, and once the radio “documentaries” are completed, they will be broadcast on KZMU during live call-in radio programs that will also include interviews with officials from the various agencies.
Chris Simon of Sageland Media is working with students to complete several short videos highlighting safety tips. The films will be shown on the local television channel in area lodging establishments, and will also be presented at the Moab Information Center, Hucko said.
For more information or to volunteer, contact Candee Pearson, 259-6131.
©2005 Lisa J. Church