Passionate about creating positive change in rural and regional Australia, Kate Mitchell came up with a short animation to educate regional kids on how to respond to a snake bite.
By Ara Jansen
With a team of animators and video makers, the mum, teacher and sheep farmer from the Great Southern region created Fangs on the Farm. In it you’ll meet Darcy Dingo, Gracie Gecko and Harry Hopperoo and their travelling first aid Help HQ which helps a local survive a medical emergency.
Mum-of-three Kate was inspired to create the freely available 10-minute video after having to perform CPR on her then 16-month-old and youngest son Darcy who had a tonic-clonic (grand mal) seizure at their Narrikup farm, five hours from Perth.
Darcy had three seizures in one month and the last one could have been fatal. He is now four and has not had a seizure for almost 18 months.
Spending all those hours in hospital away from home in Perth, much of it during COVID, meant friends and family could not visit. With everyone wrapped up tight in PPE, there weren’t many hugs or much contact to go around.
Understandably Kate found it very isolating, but the upside was it gave her time to think.
A number of ideas came from those long hours by Darcy’s bedside, including a website called The Darcy Effect, home to the Hospital Bags initiative, which can be delivered to regional and rural hospitals when a family finds themselves unexpectedly in hospital. The bag is filled with functional and fun items, including toothbrushes and kids’ books.
The website is also linked to a paediatric health information hub, with a pilot currently being run in the Great Southern region in conjunction with Perth Kids Hub to help rural and regional families access services to support their child’s development.
The other idea which came from her time spent in hospital was the creation of a video for young children – and the odd adult or grandparent who needs a reminder – about how to deal with a snake bite when you’re not close to a hospital. It was a year in the making to finish Fangs on the Farm.
“I feel like kids in rural areas need resources which relate directly to them and their lives and situations,” says Kate, who self-funded the project. “That’s why we created Darcy Dingo, Gracie Gecko and Harry Hopperoo. Kids need something to relate to and they are clever, if you give them information, they can use it.
“We thought a snake bite was a simple and direct one to use first. We were able to give simple and clear directions for what you need to do.”
Kate has also put together a series of supporting resources for teachers about medical emergencies and how to deal with them.
With her teaching background, she has made sure they can be used as part of the primary school syllabus, spanning across a number of subjects.
Fangs on the Farm premiered late last year to 100 family and friends at Perth Zoo and is free to view on YouTube.
The feedback has been so positive, Kate is looking to find sponsorship or funding for a series of video adventures for the trio of animal rescuers about other medical emergencies faced by kids in rural and remote areas.
You can watch ‘Fangs on the Farm’ here.
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