Westport gets grain rescue equipment
Jun. 25—DES MOINES, Ia. — Grain bin accidents send shockwaves through rural communities as farmers and grain handlers know all too well how quickly entering a grain bin can turn deadly.
To help prevent these accidents that result in dozens of lives lost each year, Nationwide is providing life-saving resources to rural America's first-responders.
In partnership with the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety, Nationwide is awarding fire departments across the country with grain rescue tubes and hands-on training to prepare them to respond when local grain entrapments occur.
After receiving more than 1,800 nominations across 45 states in the annual Nominate Your Fire Department Contest, the insurer and its partners are proud to award grain rescue tubes and training to 58 fire departments including Westport Community Volunteer Fire Department in southern Decatur County, Ind.
NECAS, based out of Peosta, IA, will deliver the rescue tubes and training to the winning fire departments throughout 2022, 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.
With 2022 donations included, Nationwide and partners have supplied these resources to 265 departments across 31 states. At least five fire departments have utilized their rescue tubes and training to successfully rescue entrapped workers.
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