County-wide farm safety training held in Scarville

by Bonnie Kay Baldwin
Lake Mills Graphic
On the Great Plains Center for Agricultural Health website, it states that “In 2010, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the ag industry ranked third in the rate of recordable injuries . . .” Farming is a dangerous occcupation.
Brian Blodgett, Buffalo Center Fire Chief and member of  the Winnebago County Fire Association said, that this idea came up last year during one of their six annual meetings, of which there are two to three trainings per year. Ag safety is especially important this time of year during harvest, so they decided to focus on that.
On the evening of Wednesday, Aug. 28, seven area Fire Departments gathered for an Entrapment/Entanglement Training put on by Professional Rescue Innovations (PRI), Des Moines. The training took place in Scarville, at Five Star Co-op.
Over 50 personnel from Lake Mills, Buffalo Center, Forest City, Joice, Rake, Scarville, and Thompson fire departments received hands-on training in grain bin rescue, impalement, extraction from combine heads, knife rollers, and augers.
Joe Jamtgaard, who has only been on the Lake Mills Fire Department approximately three years, said this was his first experience with this type of training, other than grain bin training.
“This touched on more ag-related stuff than just grain bin,” said Jamtgaard. “The three- to four-hour training, it was good for us who aren’t farmers (and there aren’t as many farmers as there used to be), so just seeing some of this before we experience it, is good.” He said probably the most difficult/involved situation is, “when you get somebody stuck in the grain, it really holds you and sucks you down, and any little movement could be the wrong movement, which could make it worse for the victim.”
Another valuable aspect Jamtgaard took away from the training, was that it was a county-wide training, so it got a lot of different departments out. Training with them was a plus.
“You get to know them a little more, so you can kind of mesh together. Sometimes the departments have to work with each other, and need to know know which departments have specific equipment. For example, Lake Mills doesn’t have the new grain bin extraction equipment, so we’re going to rely on Emmons or Forest City or other communities for that.”
Lake Mills firefighter Scott Hagenson commented, “In over 30 years of being on the (Lake Mills) fire department, I’ve seen about a half dozen farming related accidents and injuries, so I think this was a good overall review of what can happen working with modern day farming equipment.”
This training was made possible through the Winnebago Farm Bureau, which was awarded a SHARE grant from the Iowa Farm Bureau. (The SHARE grant is given to counties who wish to collaborate with other local organizations to provide programs and learning opportunities in their counties.)
“This is the Farm Bureau’s way of making sure our emergency response teams have the training they need in the event of a farm accident,” said Mary Walk, Winnebago County Office Administrator.
Blodgett commented, “I was really pleased with the turnout this year. We are grateful for the Farm Bureau, and the PRI out of Des Moines who put on the training.”