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Air Force Community Partnership Program brings win-win training event to Youngstown

  • Published
  • By Eric M. White
  • 910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
YOUNGSTOWN AIR RESERVE STATION, Ohio --  The first product of the Air Force Community Partnership Program came to fruition here with a daylong first responder training event Oct. 17.

Working with the Ohio Bureau of Worker's Compensation, the Ohio State Fire Academy brought their innovative grain bin rescue training platform to Youngstown, allowing first responders to gain potentially life-saving skills. Approximately 50 firefighters from local fire departments, including 14 from the 910th Civil Engineer Fire Department here, participated.

The Grain CART (Comprehensive Agricultural Rescue Training) training platform was designed and built as a capstone project by students of The Ohio State University's engineering program. The Ohio State Fire Academy travels with the cart to provide training in areas where firefighters may be called upon to rescue workers trapped in grain bins. The weight and free-flowing nature of stored grain, along with the oftentimes compact size of storage units, make rescue operations both difficult and dangerous.

The Grain CART features a mock grain silo and wagon. A first responder from each training group stood in the silo while facilitators filled the silo with dried corn up to the simulated victim's waste. First responders then worked to extract the victim. They placed plastic milk crates into the grain to disperse body weight and provide a safe place to stand. After calming the victim and checking vitals, the firefighters began constructing a modular metal cylinder around the victim. They lowered the cylinder into the grain, allowing for safe removal of the grain around the trapped victim while preventing more grain from flowing in. They used heavy duty vacuums and drill-powered augurs to remove the grain.

The training also included classroom instruction, demonstrations of various rescue devices and familiarization with the augurs used in grain bins. The augurs often pose additional risk in rescue operations.

"We've been working for a couple years to put together this grain bin rescue training," said David Costantino, an employer management supervisor with the Ohio Bureau of Worker's Compensation. "It's important up here because in 2010, we had 51 people entrapped in storage bins (in the U.S.), and 26 of them passed away. So there's just a real need to have this training for the first responders, so that if somebody does get trapped in a storage bin, they have the training to get them out."

The training program is the first product to emerge from the AFCPP here. The program identifies and develops mutually beneficial partnerships between Air Force installations and surrounding communities. The aim is to leverage the intellectual capital, resources and entrepreneurial spirit of the installation and community to improve cost effective operations and quality of life programs, all while supporting local economic goals and interests.

Col. James Dignan, 910th Airlift Wing commander, called the grain bin training an easy win for all parties.

"So we have state, federal and local folks working together to provide training that normally wouldn't take place on an Air Force base," said Dignan. "This is just the first of many projects, we hope, as we move forward, to train our first responders and our firefighters."

YARS is one of 17 wings in the Air Force and the first of only two wings across the Air Force Reserve participating in the AFCPP.

The 910th Airlift Wing has a mutual aid agreement with local townships, and may be called upon to assist in real-world grain bin rescues considering the agrarian composition of areas surrounding YARS.