Members of Laramie County Fire District No. 5 were presented with a Res-Q Tube for grain engulfment rescues on Tuesday, Dec. 13,

Four local fire districts and workers from two co-ops from Wyoming and Nebraska attended grain rescue training courtesy of Frenchman Valley Co-op on Tuesday, Dec. 13, in Kimball, Neb. Laramie County Fire District No. 5 had five volunteers able to make this years training.

SATRA, Safety and Technical Rescue Association, headquartered out of Livonia, Mich., provided the trainers and equipment was donated by FVC to the fire districts. Bill Harp, SATRA’s CEO, explained there has been a steep increase in engulfments and deaths in grain bins over the last five years. Enhancements in storage and additional storage sites, Harp believes make the problem worse not better. On the industry side, Harp said, 26 fatalities occur a year. That is one fatality every other week, Harp added this statistic does not include engulfments.

LCFD5 volunteer, Erik Vanplancke said the statistics were the most interesting part of the course for him. Why should more storage bins and innovations lead to more danger?

“The farmers are getting old, and with that generation aging, younger workers have not been learning as much safety,” Vanplancke explained.

Harp noted with more automated machinery, there are fewer employees and sometimes a lone operator. Also contributing factors are equipment upgrades that make grain flow faster and English being a second language for many workers, explained Harp.

The training will help reduce deaths and speed engulfment rescues. A cofferdam or, in this case, GSI’s Res-Q tube, is used to limit the amount of grain needed to move in a rescue. By placing the Res-Q tube around the victim, rescuers limit the volume of grain trapping the victim making it manageable.

Live rescues were performed by the fire district groups, for LCFD5, Dave Robson was engulfed up to his waist.

“It’s quite amazing how much he (Robson) was weighed down just up to his waist,” Verplancke said. “One guy can’t pull another out by himself, never gonna happen.”

A 165-lb. person sunk down three feet in grain will have their weight increase by up to 160 lbs., SATRA trainer George Lovell explained, adding that amount goes up considerably the further down someone is in the grain. Lovell, a SATRA trainer for three years and firefighter out of Detroit, Mich., does trainings on his days off for the non-profit organization.

Of the Nebraska trainings Lovell said, “It was a very good experience to come work with fire departments and (grain) industry people both at the same time.”

Anyone entering a grain bin should be in a harness with a lifeline, Lovell said, the lock out, tag out procedure should be followed and the buddy system is also important. Lovell said these precautions should be followed by grain workers as preventative steps. In rescues, all rescuers should be in proper harness, with lifelines to not need rescuing as well. The victim may also require rope rigging to help remove them from the bin if they have a medical condition, Lovell explained.

“With grain flowing, it is a unique issue,” said Lovell comparing grain rescue to other technical rescues. “It’s challenging … Once familiar with a cofferdam though, it is simple and easy to use.”

The training consisted of about an hour in the classroom and an hour performing and observing the rescue procedures out at a grain bin.

“I think this is the most valuable training I’ve had,” LCFD5 firefighter Ty Anderson said.

Anderson explained they worked in groups of three rescuers to free the engulfed man. Grain and rope rescue, in and out of a bin, was outlined for the class, said Anderson. The Kimball, Potter-Dix and Burns fire districts all had volunteers in the class.

How do these engulfments occur? Harp explained a large number happen when an individual enters a grain bin for some reason while equipment has grain flowing, often to try to fix a blockage. Another common scenario Harp explained, is when a person enters when a crust has formed on top of the grain and is unaware of a void space beneath, the crust gives way leaving the person with grain flowing in around them. The last example Harp gave is when material sticks up on the side of the bin and an individual dislodges it underestimating how much was up there, like an avalanche the grain comes down trapping the worker.

“No community is prepared to lose a farmer or grain employee to engulfment,” Harp said. “Through proper use of training and equipment these (engulfments) can be avoided.”

The goal of the training is to continue turning more engulfments into rescues instead of recoveries, Harp said. SATRA has provided training across the U.S., and last year sent a team to Australia.

From Dec. 13 to 15, FVC provided trainings in Kimball; Chappell, Neb.; Imperial, Neb.; and McCook, Neb. In the three days of training, 134 people participated in the training. Twelve Res-Q Tubes were donated by FVC, contributions from the Charles Pflum Memorial Fund, the Farmers Grain and Supply Company of Trenton, Neb., and Crossroads Cooperative of Sidney, Neb. A release from FVC explained the Res-Q Tube further:

“It is constructed of lightweight aluminum so it can be quickly assembled and used to stop the flow of the grain toward the victim and block any additional pressure that may be created from rescuers as they are performing the rescue.”

FVC acquired the Res-Q tubes “at cost” from Woofter Construction out of Colby, Kan.

“It went really well,” Verplancke said. “It was informative, they talked about different situations and working with different locations in the bins. Couldn’t ask for better trainers.”