American Red Cross to Hold First Annual Workplace Safety Recognition Breakfast
News Release: March 15, 2001
Contact: Janice Osborne, Manager-Media & Community Affairs
(610) 865-4400, ext. 262
The Lehigh Valley Chapter, American Red Cross will hold a special breakfast to recognize area companies and organizations that use Red Cross safety training programs to enhance the safety of their workforce. The breakfast will be held Tuesday, March 27, from 7:30 a.m. to 9 a.m. at the Holiday Inn Bethlehem.
"This event is a way to publicly thank the many companies in the Lehigh Valley that use Red Cross safety training programs at their workplace and make a safe work environment a priority for employees," said Steve Vetrano, senior director-Programs and General Services. "By making the Red Cross their provider of choice for safety training, companies save lives and prevent injuries both on the job and off the job."
Amy Burkett of WLVT Channel 39's Lehigh Valley Tempo newsmagazine is host of the event.
Special recognition will be given to companies that have trained the largest number of its employees last year and to those companies that have implemented an Automated External Defibrillator (AED) program at their work site.
Nearly 400 Lehigh Valley companies and organizations have provided Red Cross training to their employees. That training consists mainly of Standard First Aid and Adult CPR/Automated External Defibrillation. Other training includes Slips, Trips & Falls, Preventing Back Injuries, Violence in the Workplace, Ergonomics, Managing Stress, Your Heart Matters and Preventing Disease Transmission.
"Our workplace training programs are designed to fit the needs of various workplace environments - it's not a one-size fits all. Safety training needs for a manufacturing company may differ from those in an office setting," said Vetrano. "Our programs are flexible to meet the time, budget and requirements of the workplace."
"Thanks to the American Red Cross First Aid, CPR and Automated External Defibrillator training programs, we have more than 100 employees trained to respond quickly should an emergency arise," says Linda Cassel, Safety & Health manager at Binney & Smith in Easton. "The workplace emergency knowledge and flexible class schedules of the Red Cross have helped us strengthen our internal emergency response programs."
Vetrano stressed the importance of AED training. "In the past year, 250,000 Americans died of sudden cardiac arrest: one every two minutes. Almost a third of these deaths could have been prevented if an automated external defibrillator (AED) had been available for immediate use at the time of the emergency," Vetrano said.
An AED is a device that can restart a heart that has stopped beating effectively. The American Red Cross has designed a life-saving AED training course for business and industry that focuses on training the lay rescuer in the workplace. It combines OSHA-compliant Adult CPR training with instruction in automated external defibrillation, the two skills needed to save the life of a sudden cardiac arrest victim.
The Red Cross provides training to companies through its workplace training program held either onsite or at the Red Cross offices. Through its Authorized Provider program, an individual or organization that has a Red Cross-trained instructor can provide American Red Cross health and safety programs in-house. "By becoming an Authorized Provider, companies can build their own training team to teach health and safety courses to employees of their business or members of their organization," said Vetrano.
Red Cross programs adhere to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's training requirements and ensure OSHA's mission to "save lives, prevent injuries and protect the health of America's workers."
To attend the breakfast or for more information about Red Cross safety training, call (610) 865-4400 or visit www.redcrosslv.org.
The American Red Cross is a humanitarian organization, led by volunteers, that provides relief to victims of disasters and helps people prevent, prepare for and respond to emergencies.
The Lehigh Valley Red Cross serves more than 620,000 residents in Lehigh and Northampton counties. Last year the Red Cross provided health and safety education training and emergency relief services to nearly 15,500 Lehigh Valley residents.
