SUNY Potsdam Wilderness Education Program Benefits from Rescue Equipment Donation by Brookfield Power

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From left, Michael Perry, Mark Simon, Trevor Wood, Dan Parker and Ben LaValley pose with the donated wilderness rescue equipment (for titles, see release).

POTSDAM, NY (10/20/2011)(readMedia)-- SUNY Potsdam's Wilderness Education Program is now better prepared to train students to evacuate an injured person from the backcountry, thanks to a recent donation.

Brookfield Power has donated a Ferno rescue stretcher with a wheel system for use by the College and area emergency responders. The rescue litter system will be stored at the Colton Rescue Squad facility and will be available for rescue personnel to use in the event that someone needs to be rescued on a trail or in the woods in St. Lawrence County.

"Brookfield is pleased to make this valuable donation to both the emergency services in St Lawrence County as well as the educational institution SUNY Potsdam. Helping to increase the capabilities of our emergency responders is vitally important to us," said Dan Parker, Raquette River superintendent at Brookfield.

Parker presented the equipment to Trevor Wood, assistant chief of the Colton Fire and Rescue Department, Mark Simon, coordinator of the College's Wilderness Education Program, and field instructors Michael Perry and Ben LaValley recently.

SUNY Potsdam wilderness education students will train alongside first responders in a joint session this Sunday, Oct. 23 at the Stone Valley Trail in Colton.

According to Simon, "the rescue litter is a great improvement over our current rescue options, which have been to build an improvised litter or to wait until a rescue squad or the Department of Environmental Conservation arrives on the scene."

The issue with an improvised litter, which can be constructed from tree branches, is that it takes time to build, makes it hard to properly stabilize the victim and is difficult to carry.

"I think the litter will be a strong asset to our department because of the rough and remote terrain we work with in our vicinity," said Wood.

The SUNY Potsdam program hopes to utilize the rescue litter system as part of its existing cache of emergency equipment used both in case of emergency and to train students.

To learn about the Wilderness Education minor offered at SUNY Potsdam's School of Education and Professional Studies, visit www.potsdam.edu/academics/SOEPS/CommunityHealth/minorwildernesseducation.cfm.

Founded in 1816, and located on the outskirts of the beautiful Adirondack Park, The State University of New York at Potsdam is one of America's first 50 colleges. SUNY Potsdam currently enrolls approximately 4,350 undergraduate and graduate students. Home to the world-renowned Crane School of Music, SUNY Potsdam is known for its handcrafted education, challenging liberal arts and sciences core, excellence in teacher training and leadership in the performing and visual arts.

-www.potsdam.edu-