Morgan County adding AED kit to every patrol car
MORGAN COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) – Law enforcement in Morgan County will soon have an AED in every patrol car, which will be accessible when officers are on and off duty.
The Morgan County Sheriff’s Office, along with the Martinsville, Mooresville, Monrovia, Morgantown, Paragon, and Brooklyn police departments will all receive the devices, hopefully by the end of the year.
Morgan County Sheriff Rich Myers said officers often respond to medical emergencies in rural counties.
“Ambulance services generally are posted somewhere strategically throughout the county, but we can be close to an event so we can have those AEDs for a heart attack or whatever the event is much quicker,” Sheriff Myers said.
Bolt for the Heart, a nonprofit organization that brings awareness to cardiac arrests, is supplying 92 AED kits to the county. The group also previously helped equip all Indiana State Police vehicles with the devices.
“Sudden cardiac arrest is one of the top killers in the United States. Without CPR and an AED, death is pretty much imminent, but if you have CPR and an AED, your chance of survival has increased significantly,” Susan Twer, spokesperson for Bolt for the Heart said.
Both the organization and law enforcement said AEDs are user friendly and require limited training to operate. Each one costs around $1,500.
It’s why Bolt for the Heart fundraises to purchase the devices, so government agencies don’t have to use taxpayer dollars. They’re hosting a Morgan County 5K Bolt Race October 5.
“You can run that morning,” Twer said. “We also have a virtual option that if you can’t be there on that day, you can register virtually to run it wherever you may, whenever you want. And we’ll send you a bib number and a finisher’s medal. You can send us a picture of you with your medal on when you’ve finished your race virtually and we’ll post it on our website.”
MORGANTOWN, Ind. (WISH) – A new school in Indiana is letting students get their hands dirty while they learn about agriculture and technology.
The 600-acre farm is based out of Morgantown but is open to any student in the state. That is because the bulk of the learning is done online.
Once a month the students will come to the Morgantown farm to get hands-on opportunity on the things they have learned.
“Agriculture is big in Indiana. It’s a $31 billion business and there’s so many avenues for kids to go through in the agriculture business. The average age of the farmer is 64. We at least want to expose kids to the agriculture industry,” said Keith Marsh, who is the Chief Academic Officer of the Indiana Agriculture and Technology School.
Students recently met at the farm and learned about food science through use of the five senses.
“I really enjoy the ag part of it. I enjoy coming to the farm for the meetings and having different experiences with different people,” said sophomore Miranda Scafford, who is from Martinsville.
The cheese evaluation seemed to be pretty easy for Scafford, who hopes to one day have a career in agriculture.
“I probably would like to be in the dairy industry. I really enjoy it. I’m really big into 4-H and the ag industry. So, I thought it would be right up my alley, like with animals and being outside,” she added.
The school has 127 enrolled at this time and are still accepting students for this school year. School started about five weeks ago.
Indiana Agriculture and Technology School is a tuition-free charter school and enrolls grade seventh through grade 12.
Throughout the school year students will get to explore more of the 600 acre property including the wetlands and forests when they study forest management conservation.
To learn more, click here.
MORGANTOWN, Ind. (WISH) — An 11-year-old boy was hit by a motorcycle while driving an off-road vehicle on Sunday afternoon.
According to the Indiana Department of Natural Resources, the boy was riding on a Monster Moto mini-bike along Whetstine Road in Morgan County, following behind his grandfather, who was on a lawnmower.
The boy was trying to turn around in the road when he pulled in front of a motorcycle driven by 62-year-old Wayne Luther.
The 11-year-old was not wearing safety gear when the accident occurred and suffered injuries to his wrist, torso and leg.
He was taken to IU Health-Morgan before being transferred to Riley Hospital for Children. Indiana DNR officials say he is in stable condition. The other driver was not injured in the crash.
As of July 1, 2017, all minors in Indiana are legally required to wear helmets while riding any kind of all-terrain or off-road vehicles. This Indiana law is known as the Play for Kate law, named after Kate Bruggenschmidt of Warrick County, who was only 11 years old when she was killed in an ATV accident. Violators of this law can receive a $500 ticket.
DNR officials say they do not believe that drugs or alcohol played a role in causing the crash.