By Kerry Rahm
krahm@wbcowqel.com
On the final day of the Crawford County Antique Farm Machinery Association’s 16th annual Farm and Tractor Show, a most important rescue simulation was taking place in the background on Saturday morning.
The farm show was still going strong on its final day, but amongst the spectators and the tractor pulls, members of various local fire departments gathered to learn how to rescue a person trapped in a grain bin.
Holmes Township, Dallas Township, and the New Washington fire departments, among others, were in attendance.
With the help of the Ohio Fire Marshal’s office and the Ohio Fire Academy, a special truck, titled the Grain C.A.R.T. (Comprehensive Agricultural Rescue Trailer) was brought in for use. It was designed specifically for grain bin rescue re-creations.
The truck was positioned on the track at the fairgrounds, right up against the front of the grandstand.
The firefighters were geared up in some of their standard equipment and 3M masks to keep out the corn dust. The idea was to recreate a rescue scenario, with one volunteer playing the role of the “victim,” waist deep in grain, who was to be rescued with help from his crew.
Zach Wolfe, who has been a firefighter with Holmes Township for the past 16 years, and who was instrumental in helping to bring in the C.A.R.T. for the local departments, spoke about why part of the training was done at the Farm Show.
“It’s good public awareness of grain rescue. It’s an opportunity for all the local firefighters in the county to get together… We’re training five and six departments at a time to get baseline knowledge, so everyone who’s responding, or who may be responding in the future are able to train together, so we’re all taught the same way.”
Saturday’s crew had a lecture portion in the Youth Building, followed by lunch, and then training on the C.A.R.T. the rest of the day.
With training scheduled to take place on Sunday and Monday as well, approximately 75 to 80 firefighters will have practiced this rescue scenario by the time training is finished.
Part of this demonstration is for continuing education, which most of these firefighters need about 54 hours of in a year. Six hours will be earned from this course.
The Grain C.A.R.T. was built by Ohio State University students as part of a Senior Capstone Project and sponsors either gave money toward it or donated materials to build it. The Ohio Fire Academy estimates its value at about $180,000. The academy provided the trailer itself but the students built everything else.
Wolfe said he needed to book the truck about one year in advance, as popular as it is.
Persons becoming trapped in grain bins is not uncommon, Wolfe points out, as about three months ago, there was a successful grain rescue out of LaRue, Ohio in Marion County.
Albert Gross and Andy Bauer, both of the Ohio Fire Academy, were there to guide and discuss the finer points of procedure with the crew.
These technical aspects of training are the result of collective years of refining rescue techniques. Firefighters benefit because in the camaraderie they share, they are afforded the opportunity to educate and teach new skills to each other. All this is underscored by the importance of proper training and the value of having everyone learn things the same way.
The rescue goes something like this: the person entering the bin, for whatever reason, becomes trapped, most often because an auger at the bottom of the bin sucks the person down into the grain. The rescuers go up the outside of the bin to gain access, and then, when inside, use an item called a coffer dam, or a grain rescue tube.
The coffer dam is a prefabricated metal structure that can be broken down into four pieces, rebuilt, and secured around the trapped victim.
Put it around the person and it effectively reduces the size of the bin to a 36 inch diameter space, helping to relieve pressure on the victim so they can breathe, and eventually, move as the grain in the smaller space is hauled out.
Jammie Fletcher, who played the “victim” in one simulation, related how it felt inside the bin, trapped by all that grain. “It’s not a good feeling. It’s a good experience to go through, as far as the training, I hope I never have to do it in real life, but I’m glad I’m here today.”
A real rescue can take anywhere from two hours to 12-14 hours.
Bauer, originally from Urbana, travels all over the state teaching with the academy. He will be a part of at least 60 classes from March to November, most of which is weekend work.
“Most fire departments have never dealt with a farm incident like this, even in a lot of the rural areas,” Bauer says. “It’s not a required training by the fire academy, by the state fire marshal, but it is training now that is provided by the fire marshal, and the academy, to teach them what to do when they do have this type of an incident.”
He became involved because he “lost friends in bins.” He knows how vitally important it is to pass on rescue procedure, to share knowledge and raise awareness about the issue, especially with our local firefighters.
“You teach them and they go to school and learn how to put out a fire, but this is the only school really to teach them how to get somebody that is buried in a grain bin back out again.”