Social work secures emergency kits, AED
A group of students used $3,000 to introduce extra safety to Bethel's campus.
In August of 2022, members of the Bethel social work department and club attended a conference that resulted in receiving a total of $3,000 in order to advocate for the purchase of nine Red Cross Emergency Kits for the campus dorms and an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) for Warkentin Court.
This also involves the training of Community Assistants (CAs) to be ready to adequately use these when needed. A few students in the social work department grouped together to make this happen, including Lindsey Pfannenstiel, Shanti Kauffman, Katelin Keough, and Isabela Diaz.
These students and Nancy Banman, associate professor of social work, attended the Central Kansas Community Foundation (CKCF) “Be Ready-Be Resilient” (disaster preparedness) Conference at Butler Community College in El Dorado in August and have been working on this project for the entire academic year. The conference was held to help students plan a disaster preparedness project to take back to the Bethel campus and community.
On March 16, these students had their formal picture taken as a group to recognize the work being done by the students and staff, along with the role of the CAs to disperse the items.
These items were funded at $1,000 each by the disaster relief conference the social work members attended, along with another portion given by the North Newton community board, and the rest received from a grant.
The process for these students started when they were deciding on what to do in regard to disaster relief on campus. “We brainstormed for a long time before we came down to what we wanted to do as well as making sure we were meeting the grant requirements,” said Lindsey Pfannenstiel, senior from Hays.
Coordinator for Residence Life Programming Larry Rice also played a critical role in the social workers advocating for disaster relief on campus, as it was his idea to get another AED.
“He thought of things outside the box and helped us narrow it all down bringing in his experiences and knowledge with his role,” Pfannenstiel said. “Our plan initially started with just the emergency kits, but the AED was added on later and we added Larry to the process.”
Nancy Banman wrote the official grant proposal and guided the process. The team met several times and officially received the grant in order to put their plan into action.
“The importance of these essential items on campus is simply because Bethel doesn’t have them,” said Pfannenstiel. “I thought about what would happen if we were to have a serious natural disaster or emergency, what would we do? Students really didn’t know what to do when the power went out last year for a few hours, which is all the more reason we need to look at what resources we have available. It’s important to have it on campus because you never know when you’re going to need it — life is very unpredictable.”
Before the purchase of the emergency kits and AED, students on campus didn’t have access to an AED nor did they have safety supplies accessible to them in case of an emergency or natural disaster.
“An important factor that went into all of this is the students that went to bat for this grant and conference to make this happen,” Pfannenstiel said. “We’ve been working on this project since August. It is a good representation of our values of social work and the students we have in our department.
“As a social work major, I feel the importance of making sure we are taken care of as students in a serious situation. These kits will be placed in each of the dorms and though we hope to not need them, they are there.”
Shanti Kauffman, a senior from Salem, Ore. echoed Pfannenstiel’s rationale.
“The safety bags will be a recourse for people that need them right away and the nurse is not available,” she said. “It is also a way to make sure the CAs are trained to be able to handle emergency situations. Having the safety backpacks and the defibrillator also makes it a safe place for the people that come to campus to watch the different sports teams play.”
The hope for having the safety kits on campus is to ensure that all students feel safe on campus as well as educated on disasters if one may occur. “We are working toward having all the CAs CPR certified so they know how to properly use these kits and the AED,” said Pfannenstiel. “The hope is to continue conversation about safety and essential needs here on campus. It doesn’t just stop here.”
Students are encouraged to approach their CAs if they’re in need of any items for basic first aid. “When the AED is installed, my hope is that the residents will respect federal regulations that it not be tampered with in any fashion,” said Rice. “It is a tool, not a toy. My hope is that we will never have to use either the emergency kits — unless for remedial first aid — or the AED. However, being prepared is always beneficial.”
The emergency kits will be located in the residential buildings so students have a faster way of getting the resources needed in case of emergency. There will be one emergency pack on each floor of Haury Hall and Voth Hall while the other packs will be stored in the CA closet, located in the Warkentin lounge. The AED will be located in the Warkentin Court lobby since it is a local place for people to have the ability to retrieve it if there ever becomes a need for it.
The AED will be available and accessible beginning in the fall. The CAs will have access to the emergency kits and AED and will be trained in how to use each object in the backpacks as well as the AED. Rice will be monitoring the use of equipment in the dorms.