By Jim Carrabba, Agriculture Safety Specialist; Northeast Center for Occupational Health and Safety: Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing 

When someone becomes helplessly engulfed in grain, rural firefighters are often the first and only line of defense. Unfortunately, many departments lack the specialized techniques and equipment necessary for a successful grain bin rescue. Nationwide Insurance once again is teaming up with the National Education Center for Agricultural Safety (NECAS), Peosta, Iowa, to award emergency first responders with grain rescue tubes and hands-on rescue training to help save lives.

The Nominate Your Fire Department Contest is part of Nationwide's annual Grain Bin Safety Week, which will run February19-25, 2023.

Winners will receive:

• One (1) grain rescue tube, valued between $3,000 and $5,000

• One (1) six-hour grain entrapment rescue training session, at winner's location, valued at up to $5,000. Training includes proper rescue procedures and use of the grain rescue tube, rescue auger, body harness/lifelines, and lockout/tagout.

The contest begins on January 1, 2023 at 8:00 a.m. CT and extends through April 30, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. CT. Only entries submitted during this time will be considered for the contest.

To enter, describe how your local fire department or emergency rescue team and community would benefit from grain entrapment training and a rescue tube, as well as how the tube and training could be shared with nearby departments. Please include:

• Your name
• Occupation
• Phone number
• Mailing address
• Email address
• Name, address and phone number of the fire department or rescue team being nominated

Contest entries are accepted from the public as well as from firefighters who wish to nominate their own fire department. Employees and agents of Nationwide are not eligible to submit nominations for the contest.

For more information visit nationwide.com and search for "Grain Bin Safety Week."

Nominations can be submitted in one of three ways: 

1. Online: https://www.mynsightonline.com/grain-bin-safety/participate-partner/nominate
2. Via email: gbswinfo@nationwide.com 
3. Mail to: NECAS, Grain Bin Safety Ag Contest, 8342 NICC Dr., Peosta, IA 52068

Since 2014, the contest has received over 9,000 nominations and has awarded grain rescue tubes and hands-on rescue training to 272 fire departments in 31 states. Five of these fire departments have used their rescue tubes to save the lives of entrapped workers. Dan Neenan, Director of NECAS, travels with a state-of-the-art grain entrapment simulator on a 20 foot trailer to deliver the rescue tube and training to the winning fire departments. In 2022, a total of 58 rescue tubes were awarded across the nation. Since the program's inception, a number of rescue tubes have been awarded to fire departments in Northeastern states: