First responders from over 20 different agencies made their way to Fedora over the weekend for agriculture rescue training.
With harvest well underway or wrapping up for some farmers, it's a timely reminder that accidents on the farm or in the field can happen, and first responders must know how to handle them.
"I don't know of anybody in South Dakota that doesn't know a farmer. We all know one. We all are one. And if don't we have the knowledge to help the guy next to us, the guy we know, what good are we doing as a department," Leroy Ainslie told Carter Schmidt at KELO.
Ainslie has been a volunteer firefighter with the Fedora Fire Department for 11 years and is also a certified trainer. He says training like this one has not been in South Dakota for quite awhile.
"Couldn't find anybody that had done it in 22 years, so I decided I would take it upon myself and figure out a way to get it done," he said.
Advanced Rescue Solutions out of Indiana is the group that does this training all over the United States. Todd Taylor is an instructor and fire captain from Indianapolis.
"We went through a classroom this morning talking about the different emergencies and how to handle those emergencies, and then we're coming out to the field to do the practical sessions," Taylor told Schmidt at KELO
Which includes multiple stations such as a tractor rollover accident, victims pinned in a corn head, auger and grain bin and cutting the steel of grain bins.
"Once you get the safety part of it down, then getting into the grain bin to do the rescue is very very difficult. Once we do that, there are several safety measures that have to be put in place so that we don't become a victim ourselves and in order to get the victim out safely," Taylor said.
Ainslie says the training is important for these first responders.
"I'm going to feel more confident in knowing what to do," he said.
Fifteen sponsors helped fund the Saturday and Sunday training that costs around $15,000.
"Without them guys, we wouldn't have this course today. I don't want any fire department to have to pay for this training because we need it," he said.
Categories: South Dakota, General, Harvesting