Invention uses panels to help with grain bin rescues

SHANNON – When a grain engulfment happens, speed is of the essence.

Representatives from 11 area fire departments trained for 8 hours Saturday, learning the ins and outs of grain bin rescues, and how to use the Great Wall of Rescue, a device designed by Eastland Feed & Grain owner Roger Coulthard and manufactured by Eastland Fabrication of Lanark.

“We want every department to be comfortable with performing a full rescue procedure,” said Kirsten Kniss, Eastland’s international sales manager “We don’t want our smaller or volunteer departments to be intimidated by the scope or legality of the procedure. There isn’t time to wait around for a tech rescue team. You want to get in and get something around the victim.”

The Great Wall of Rescue is deployed by inserting one panel into the grain, then locking another panel to it, then another, and another, until the victim is completely surrounded. More panels can be locked to the top of the first set and stepped down into the grain, regardless of depth, so that once the panels are in place, the grain can be removed and the victim extracted.

“The GWR equipment works really well, and the Great Wall has been used successfully in several rescues already. Rescue teams are pretty excited about having them, and we’re excited to get them out in this area,” Kniss said.

Coulthard said his organization takes an active interest in training fire and EMS teams because of the increasing number of grain industry accidents.

“There have been entrapments everywhere, so we’re doing our part to not only help educate the responders, but also our employees. They learn what to do, but also what not to do,” he said. “There is a lot more on-farm storage, so we’re going to see increased chances for these accidents to happen.”

That’s not the only factor.

“Harvest moistures were high last year, and if the grains weren’t properly dried, it will start bridging, and that’s when we see more farmers going into their bins trying to break it up,” he said. “It’s just human nature.

“It was a little different in the old days, when we had smaller bins holding 3,000 to 5,000 bushels. But today, that size bin is just a temporary holding tank at best, and the opportunity for accident is increased.”

Mark Baker of State Line Farm Rescue of Orangeville organized the training.

“We’re going through all the regulations set in place by [Occupational Health and Safety Administration] and [National Fire Protection Association] standards that our firefighters and rescue people need to know,” Baker said.

“We are also bringing awareness to the employees at the elevator and feed mill here, giving them an idea of what exactly they can do in the scope of rescue and how they can deal with a rescue. Hopefully, they will never have to use the information, but they will be ready if the need arises.”

The training is hands-on.

“We have a simulator that lets them actually practice going into a bin and extricating a trapped victim,” Baker said. “We will have different students volunteer to become a victim and be entrapped. Then we’ll go through and rescue that victim in a controlled atmosphere.”

Eastland companies and Stateline Farm Rescue work together, both in training and in actual rescues.

“We’ve had opportunity to use their GWR tube in a real rescue, and it was proven to work effortlessly,” Baker said.

Stateline is unique in that we are all firefighters or EMS and we all have a farming background. We not only know what we’re talking about, we live it. We have a strong obligation in our rural communities to take care of our family farmers.”