Wednesday evening during the Plymouth Volunteer Fire Department meeting representatives from Pioneer Seed in Plymouth made a donation of rescue equipment.
Being pro-active Pioneer Seed contacted the Plymouth Fire Department a few months ago asking them to assist them in finding a way to remove someone who may become incapacitated in the 5-story tower they have.
Art Jacobs and a couple other training instructors with the Fire Department went out to Pioneer Seed and developed plans on how they would remove someone. They then held a training night at Pioneer Seed where they practiced removing someone from the upper levels of the tower with the aerial fire truck.
Working with corn and grain can be very dangerous if someone isn’t careful. Over 40 grain entrapments happen every year and the donation of a GSI Res-Q-Tube will be able to aid the fire department in rescuing victims engulfed in grain.
Historically 70% of grain entrapments happened on-farms, however, in 2011, commercial grain facilities saw 74% of the incidents. This shift in accidents makes it extremely important for farmers, grain elevator operators, and fire and rescue teams to be prepared in the event of a grain engulfment. Therefore, Pioneer Seed donated a GIS Res-Q-Tube, a 4 piece tube that is placed around the victim stuck in the grain. The Res-Q-tube stops the flow of the grain toward the victim so rescuers can remove the grain and take care of the patient. Pioneer Seed also purchased a stokes basket that can be used with the aerial truck to lower an incapacitated victim to the ground. The donation was valued at $3,5000.
