Carolyn Sheridan, RN, of Greenville, IA, is the third individual to be inducted into the I-CASH Hall of Fame. She received the Hall of Fame award November 5, 2003 during the Midwest Rural Agricultural Safety and Health Forum in Des Moines, IA.
As a nurse and a farmer, Sheridan has longstanding interest in improving health and safety within the farming community. In 1990 she was one of the first individuals to become certified as an Agricultural Occupational Health Nurse by completing I-CASH’s Agricultural Occupational Health Training Program.Equipped with this training, she established an AgriSafe program of health services at Spencer Hospital in Spencer, Iowa, which was one of the first clinics in the AgriSafe Network.
Sheridan has served as the Network’s Clinical Director since 1994. The AgriSafe Network has become a model for other states interested in developing agricultural health and safety clinics, including Illinois, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kansas, South Dakota, Virginia and Texas. In 2002 AgriSafe Network, Inc. spun off from I-CASH as its own non-profit organization.
The breadth of the AgriSafe network is a testament to Sheridan’s efforts, said Kelley Donham, DVM, I-CASH director and University of Iowa professor of occupational and environmental health. “Carolyn has helped bring to reality a vision of comprehensive preventive services for farmers,” he said. “She attracted and solicited ideas and support from talented, dedicated people and has now helped launch the new AgriSafe non-profit organization. She has done all this during these challenging economic times in the health care industry.”
I-CASH created the Hall of Fame Award in 2002 to recognize individuals or organizations that have made significant contributions to agricultural safety and health in Iowa.