Nationwide is taking nominations for their eighth annual “Nominate Your Fire Department Contest” because this week is Grain Bin Safety Week. Since 2014 the company has given 152 grain rescue tubes and grain bin training sessions to fire departments in over 25 states. The goal here is to educate fire departments across the country on how to handle a grain bin rescue and give them the proper tools to rescue successfully.
The company teams up with the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS) to share training with fire departments. NECAS sends trainers to the department with their grain entrapment simulators and rescue tubes. The simulators are capable of holding up to 100 bushels of grain to make the simulation as real as possible. Both Nationwide and NECAS recognize how important it is to correctly train fire departments near farming areas for situations like this. No one wants to lose a farmer in their area, especially when the circumstance could be prevented by training and proper rescue equipment.
Grain bin safety is no joke. Here are some facts that you may not know:
- Within four seconds an adult can sink knee-deep in flowing grain and won’t be able to save themselves without help.
- Almost 400 grain entrapments have been recorded since 2011 and they estimate that another 30% simply weren’t reported.
- In 2019 alone there were 38 grain bin entrapments, which was suspected to be caused by 2019’s wet harvest.
- 19 deaths were reported from August 2019 to January 2020 because of grain bin accidents.
- The majority of grain entrapment cases involve young people who may not understand the possible dangers at hand.
Since Nationwide kicked off the program, at least four departments had to use their new equipment and training. One department in Minnesota used the grain rescue tube two years after they were awarded it and they ended up saving a man’s life while he was already up to his face in flowing corn.
You can nominate your local fire department here. The process is very easy, you just need to know the basic department contact info and write up a quick summary about why you think that specific fire department should receive the training and rescue equipment. Nominations are open until April 30th.
