Buried Alive; In an Instant

[BA Deere]

Interesting show on ABCs In an Instant show about a Eldora farm family who`s son got buried and trapped under a pile of corn.  A good reminder to be safe around grain bins.  The show is available to watch on line.

http://abc.go.com/shows/in-an-instant/episode-guide/season-01/06-in-an-instant-buried-alive 

[hardnox]

I happened upon it and watched for a while until I figured out that they were going to milk the story forever.

From my point of view it was fairly disgusting. It starts out with the family doing "whodathunkit, that's the danger of farm life" when IMHO anybody owning a 50-100K bu grain bin ought to know proper safety procedures- even if they don't care about their own family they should think about the huge liability for employees.

Then apparently the rescuer personnel aren't trained for a proper response. Get the fans on, cut the bin wall. What the hell's with walking round on top of the corn going "I don't see nuthin'."

There have been a couple arguments in other forums about the evil gubmint regulating grain bins. That story, as presented, was certainly an argument for regulation.

[hardnox]

PS. Plenty of people have died in 3s and 5s but those monsters are a whole different deal.

On the one hand, fewer in total so in theory could be safer, on the other, they simply require industrial quality safety rpotocols or they're killers.

[BA Deere]

I happened on the show part way into it and I`ll admit that when I seen their bin site a tinge of jealously went through me.  However, when Arick`s mother told what she was going through as she thought it was a "recovery" rather than a "rescue" that very much humanized the family for me, I really felt sorry for the mother.  I did have to laugh, Arick didn`t think at all about his mom while he was buried  🙂 it`s funny after the fact of course, Arick wanted to stay alive to tell his dad that "it wasn`t his fault".

 The fire department wasn`t trained at all for the job, which is surprising that it was only 2 years ago and they are in a rural community.  The fact it was a automated large bin site probably makes it more dangerous than a small bin (all though that is plenty dangerous too)  but with multiple bins the rescuers weren`t sure at first which bin that he was in.  You have the dad and a hired man doing the hauling focused on their 2 hour haul and Arick whose job was to keep the grain flowing...too many "human factors" involved.

Something that stood out was a neighbor came over to help and had to introduce himself that he "knows her husband" ..she is a teacher and not involved in the farm.  Well, I got to thinking, my Wife doesn`t know alot of our neighbors either, she`s wrapped up in her world and she`s said it before, I could probably be dead for a day before she would get concerned..that is literally the case.

[hardnox]

The purpose of the show was to maximize drama and emotion, not intended as a training film for the 50-100K people in the US who might find themselves dealing with such a situation (including rural rescue).

But the rescuers should have been trained for that situation, period.

As far as the farmer goes, I can entirely see how you could misjudge how far the corn was from the center well- particularly in something that big. But you simply shouldn't have anyone go in without a safety harness and spotter, period, ever.

Also, in something that big you can even get in trouble when the center of the cone is at the center well level, particularly if grain is out of condition and standing higher than normal.

I've had arguments about this several times at these forums and I'll stand by what I've said. There's a certain size of bin that should require regulations for safe entry and operations and unfortunately once you go there the magic size probably gets smaller than it ought to. Wasn't a big issue 30 years ago because almost all bins that big were on commercial operations that were subject to regulation, now there are tons of them on farms.

BTW, the Bunge elevator at Waterloo IN has a grain rescue tube that is housed there but available to all area first responder units and they offer regular training on the topic.

Tht's something very worthwhile that other elevators could consider.

[hardnox]

Also BTW, Purdue has maintained a position in Farm Health and Safety in the Ag Engr. dept filled by Bill Field, a very capable guy of long tenure.

Sounds like maybe ISU doesn't find that a priority?

[BA Deere]

Iowa State has Mark Hanna for a safety guy, they put on seminars through the extention.  But it`s always a human factor, like if a safety harness doesn`t get hooked up or if someone is waving "Stop!  Help!" but the other guy thinks he`s waving "Hi".

With the family in the show Arick had a fancy helmut with a air fan in it and that was the small thing that saved his life.  How many times do we see stuff like that at farm shows and don`t want to "waste the $69.95"?  Arick had a rope but it wasn`t fastened, I think they were safety conscience, it`s just people get in a hurry and that`s why it`s called "accidents".

Small town fire departments are made up of volunteers and are always struggling, having to hold chili suppers just to get money for the basic equipiment.  Federal money has come to buy fire trucks, but these grain bin tragedies it`s usually too late by the time they show up and are thankfully rare. Shows like "In an Instant" of course aren`t training films, but if a firemen sees the episode it might inspire him to seek out training for his department.  Because if no one knows what they`re doing, they could very easily make the problem worse.

I`m such a nervous Nelly, if I was the dad and had doubts, I would`ve probably turned the loaded rig around after I couldn`t reach the kid or a neighbor to check. As I would`ve been waiting for 911 I`d be cutting holes in the bin...but that is 20/20 hindsight and cutting holes in the bin if you don`t know what you`re doing might make it worse, it isn`t a job that you do everyday.

Just as a side bar, if it had been the hireman buried in the corn...let`s just say that family had better have a fat up to date umbrella policy.

[sw363535]

Great comments and an important subject......

So right on that comment ------ The purpose of the show was to maximize drama and emotion

Keep watching for a rescue person to ask if he was wearing his seat belt.. 🙂   Or if it was GMO corn?

But I doubt that rescue folks here in farm country spend much time on this problem...

One thing I wanted to hear, and the first thing I would use this video for, is a discussion with combine operators about how important it is to take the time to set their sieves and air so the grain is as clean as possible when it gets to that bin...

It is the first tinge of guilt I feel when we have bin issues...... Some folks just don't care because they are not going to be the ones unplugging that bin.....  We rid ourselves of one of those this year in our business...   

Just as bad are the few of us who will send our messes to the local elevator because we don't want it in ours.....

That is my blame speach....

The guy who goes into the bin is not thinking..... And those of us who have bins need to think outside the box a little and have a strategy for fixing this without risking a life...  Our area has a couple of vaccum Air machines that can suck contents out of a bin and most every bin has a secondary tube or a fan tube for secondary access.  

We don't teach much any more.......