Donated tool helps crews rescue man from grain bin

NEWTON, Iowa -- A donated rescue tool helped firefighters save the life of an Iowa man who became trapped in a grain bin south of Newton last week.

The Des Moines Register reports (http://dmreg.co/1qOwMT7 ) the roughly $3,000 grain bin rescue tube that the Kellogg Township Fire Department owns helped keep Tuesday's accident from becoming fatal.

About three-fourths of all grain entrapments between 1964 and 2008 ended in deaths, according to a Purdue University study.

The pressure from the grain can keep the chest from expanding and restricting breathing. The tightly packed grain can also cause heat exhaustion.

And the danger happens quickly: a 6-foot-tall person can sink waist deep in five seconds and be buried in 11 seconds.

"It usually ends badly," said Newton Fire Chief Jarrod Wellik.

So it's fortunate that Kellogg firefighters had a specialized 5-foot-tall aluminum tube with them Tuesday.

The grain bin rescue device comes in four curved pieces that firefighters placed around the victim to keep more grain from pushing up against that person.

Once the tube was in place, firefighters scooped grain out of the tube to create more room for the man to breath, and they started providing oxygen because of all the dust and debris.

"That bought us time," said Capt. Calvin Dhondt of the Kellogg fire department.

Then rescuers pumped some grain into a truck and cut holes in the bottom of the bin to release the corn until the man was able to step out of the metal tube.

The name of the person injured in Tuesday's grain accident hasn't been released, but authorities say he is expected to recover.

The rescue device firefighters used was made by GSI Group, which also makes grain bins.

Jeff Decker, who is a safety specialist with the company, about half of the rescue tubes GSI sells are bought by community groups, such as FFA and social clubs. In Kellogg, donations from Sully Farm Supply and the community paid for the rescue device.

"Our message, first and foremost, is about avoiding incidents and staying out of harm's way," said Decker, who trains firefighters on grain bin rescues. "But when it happens, we want people to have the tools to help."