DES MOINES, Iowa – The Larned Fire Department is one of 48 fire departments that will receive equipment and training to prevent grain elevator entrapment death.
In partnership with the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS), Nationwide Insurance is awarding fire departments across the country with life-saving grain rescue tubes and hands-on training to prepare them to respond when entrapments occur.
The recipients were chosen from more than 1,000 nominations in the annual Nominate Your Fire Department Contest, a key piece of Nationwide’s Grain Bin Safety advocacy campaign.
NECAS, based out of Peosta, Iowa, will deliver the rescue tubes and training to the winning fire departments throughout 2021, traveling to each location with state-of-the-art grain entrapment simulators and rescue tubes. The comprehensive training sessions include classroom education and rescue simulations using the entrapment tools, which are loaded onto 20-foot trailers and able to hold about 100 bushels of grain each.
Nationwide is continuing to work with partners throughout 2021 to provide additional grain rescue tubes and training sessions to fire departments in need. To learn how to get involved and sponsor a rescue tube for your local fire department, visit the Partner With Us webpage.
About Nationwide’s Grain Bin Safety advocacy campaign
According to researchers at Purdue University, more than 900 cases of grain engulfment have been reported in the past 50 years, with a fatality rate of 62%. In 2020, grain entrapments led to 20 deaths.
“It only takes seconds, or a simple mistake, for an adult to sink in the quicksand-like flow of grain and become fully entrapped or engulfed,” said Brad Liggett, Nationwide’s president of Agribusiness. “Adding to the risk is a lack of rescue equipment available to local fire departments and emergency responders who are called for help when a worker becomes trapped.”
To help address this industry issue, Nationwide initiated its Grain Bin Safety campaign in 2014 to educate those entering grain bins about the hazards involved and the importance of implementing safe entry procedures. A central piece of the campaign, the Nominate Your Fire Department Contest, aims to address the lack of specialized resources available to fire departments who are responding to bin entrapments.
“Since 2014, Nationwide has made it a mission to bring an end to this industry issue by raising awareness of the dangers and collecting funds to supply needed equipment to front line rescuers tasked with responding when accidents occur,” said Liggett. “With long-standing roots in agriculture, we’re thankful for the work America’s farmers do and for the contributions of our valuable partners who help us make a difference in rural communities.”
With 2021 donations included, Nationwide and partners have supplied these resources to 200 departments across 30 states. At least four fire departments have utilized their rescue tubes and training to successfully rescue entrapped workers.
“We’re incredibly proud to award more resources in 2021 than ever before and to continue growing these efforts until we can ensure every fire department that needs it has access to these critical rescue supplies,” said Liggett.
