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UNIVERSITY PARK – Senior biological engineering students at Penn State University have created a device designed to help save farmers’ lives, according to a news release from the College of Ag Sciences.
The Penn State Grain Entrapment Simulator, which was demonstrated on campus, is a section of a grain bin mounted on a trailer and is being used to show the danger of grain-flow accidents in farm structures. The device is also going to be used to train emergency responders, according to the release.
The PSU students hope their device shows the dangers of flowing grain bins, according to team leader Ean Julius.
“Too often farmers and agricultural workers are unaware of what could happen and get entrapped in flowing grain, and some die,” Julius said in the release. “We hope that farmers can see the dangers of being in a grain bin from demonstrations using a simulator, but we also hope to train emergency personnel proper rescue techniques to use when there is an entrapped victim.”
On Oct. 25, 2015, five fire companies from across Mifflin County got together for training on how to rescue someone trapped in a grain silo.
Junction, Belleville, Milroy, Burnham and Reedsville fire companies worked with a Penn State agriculture safety instructor to learn about the dangers associated with grain silos and worked with a grain rescue tube.
At that time Dan Aumiller, chief of Reedsville Fire Company, said the training was hosted so that the first responders, both fire and medical personnel, could learn how to extricate someone and get them the medical help they need quickly.
In the release from PSU, Davis Hill, senior extension associate in agricultural and biological engineering, said there is a stark and pressing need for the simulator the students built. Hill, who oversees the Penn State Extension’s Managing Agricultural Emergencies program, noted that an average of 30 deaths occur each year across the U.S. due to grain entrapments.
The grain rescue tube was purchased through a grant from the Land O’Lakes Foundation and works by removing the grain around the person who is stuck.
A seal is created with panels that are interchangeable so that they can fit to the size of the person or where the person is. For example if the person is next to the side, or wall of the silo, then some panels will not be needed. Grain that is around the victim is then removed using a drill controlled augur until the person can be safely removed from the grain tube.
Hill said part of the reason for the building of the simulator at PSU was to simply show farmers how quickly they can become trapped in grain that is flowing, and how difficult it is for them to get out.
At the time firefighters at the training were able to practice using the rescue tube on each other, seeing firsthand how difficult a grain rescue can be and what dangers they can face when conducting a grain rescue.
Penn State Extension plans to use the simulator and offer grain-flow danger demonstrations and emergency responder training.