Safety for our visitors, staff, and volunteers has always been a top priority of the Garden. Having the new Welcome Center has allowed us to make some additions that will continue this mission.
The Garden recently obtained funding for an Automatic Electric Defibrillator (AED) to be used in the case of a cardiac emergency. This device will be housed in the Welcome Center along with our first aid kit and incident reports.
Don and Susan Sauter, local patrons of the Garden, graciously contributed $1,000. Quota International of Morgantown contributed matching funds.
Since 1985 Quota International has placed over forty AEDs in area schools. Denise Palmer, RN, Quota member and clinical manager of the West Virginia University Heart and Vascular Institute, was instrumental in acquiring the Quota Club funding. Sally Taylor, RN and Safety and Health Committee member, worked tirelessly as a liaison to acquire the AED for us. Rod Brundage, committee member and certified trainer, provided CPR, AED, and first aid training to eight Garden staffers and volunteers. He also has been instrumental in developing emergency response/disaster management protocols for Garden events. We now have plans in place in case something unforeseen occurs at a Garden event.
So come on out and enjoy your Garden! It just got a little bit safer.
By: Nancy Elliot, Committee Chair
Originally published in our Fall/Winter 2016 Newsletter
Shown are (left to right): Sally Taylor, WVBG Safety and Health Committee; Bill Mills, WVBG executive director; Dinise Palmer, Quota International; Bill Johnson, WVBG president.
Photo by Victoria Cather.