Lancaster county emergency responders rescue trapped farmer on Monday, July 6. 2009.  This article appearred in the July 11, 2009 edition of the Lancaster Farming.

As an instructor in the PAgricultural Rescue Training Program, a component of the Penn State Managing Agricultural Emergencies Program, I always tell my students that training to respond to accidents and other emergencies on farms is important, but I hope they never have to put the skills to use in real life situations.

Unfortunately, this was not the case on Monday, July 6, 2009, when emergency responders from the Christiana Fire Company, Bart Township Fire Company, Christiana Ambulance and the Lancaster Emergency Medical Services Association responded for a report of a farmer trapped in a piece of machinery on a farm in Sadsbury Township, Lancaster County. At 5:18 PM, the Lancaster Wide 9-1-1 Communications Center dispatched the emergency services to the farm in the 200 block of Brick Mill Road. As they responded, crews were advised that there was a male trapped in a power-take-off shaft.

Arriving units confirmed that a male was in the diesel shed and had his leg wrapped around the PTO shaft what appeared to be several times. Using skills learned in previous farm rescue training classes, the emergency responders recognized the need to depower the diesel engine by switching the unit off as well as disconnecting the batteries.

Once the depowering was completed emergency medical personnel could begin to safely evaluate the patient condition and begin caring for the patient.

Curt Woerth, Bart Township Fire Chief, stated that [all the emergency responders] "became a team of one to provide patient care, extrication, and packaging in limited space and temperatures in excess of 95 degrees."

The crews worked to simultaneously provide care for the patient and begin the process of securing the PTO shaft to prevent unintentional movement. After the shaft was secured saws were used to cut the shaft on both sides of the leg. The patient was then removed from the diesel shed due to limited space and high heat. A third cut of the shaft was made once the patient was removed.

The patient was then transported to the trauma center at the Lancaster General Hospital by the Sky Flight Care Helicopter for further treatment of his injuries.

Referring to the PAgRescue training classes that his fire company had completed, Chief Woerth said "the rescue crew gave credit to the training they received… They all said the same thing when the call was completed. This was the same as we learned in class. They knew what to do, when to do it, and how to do it."

When informed about the incident, Davis Hill, program director for Penn State’s Managing Agricultural Emergencies program, commented "once again, our training was credited in ‘making a difference’ in the successful outcome of a patient involved in a farm related injury." He noted that there are now several documented success stories as a result of the farm and agricultural emergencies training that emergency responders throughout Pennsylvania have received.

In recently released figures from the Penn State University, 44 people were killed in farm and agricultural-related accidents in 2008 – a sharp increase from previous years. While in some cases the nature of the injuries, many of these fatalities could not have been saved by the emergency responders, but one has to ask if even one of them could have been saved?

And now, unfortunately, funding cuts within the PA Department of Agriculture’s proposed budget will eliminate all monies for farm safety, which includes farm rescue training for emergency responders. The farm safety line item had been previously funded at approximately $111,000.00 annually. Over the last several years, this allowed for training for almost 2,000 emergency responders and hundreds more farm family members. Recently several fire companies, including the Bart Township Fire Company, have had to cancel requests for [additional] training since there is no funding available as there had been previously.

Most rural emergency responders, my local fire company included, were already facing difficult times before the global economic crisis of today, and relied on the farm safety grants and tuition reimbursement programs to be able to conduct these training programs.

I really feel that it is a shame that among the glut of many questionable programs receiving enormous sums of public money (even in these bad times), that this, and other successful programs, are left high and dry. I have to ask, will any lives be lost because the funding is not available? And if so, who is responsible?

Chief Woerth’s closing comment says a lot. "… Thank you for preparing us to handle this type of situation."

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For additional information:

Eric J. Rickenbach - 610-587-3843 – – www.rescuetechs.com 

Davis Hill, Program Director, PSU Managing Agricultural Emergencies Program – 814-865-2808 – – www.farmemergencies.pus.edu

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About the author…

Eric J. Rickenbach is a 27-year veteran of the emergency services, who resides in Rehrersburg, Berks County. He completed his first barn/farm emergency training in 1986, and became a lead instructor with the PAgricultural Rescue Training Program in 2003, conducting hundreds of hours of courses annually.? Eric also teaches several other courses in vehicle and machinery rescue.

In addition to teaching, Eric is active in several related capacities, serving on various vehicle rescue and farm safety and occupational health committees at both the local and state levels.

Eric has been honored for his work in the field of farm/agricultural rescue as a member of the ‘PAgricultural Rescue Training Team’ which was honored by the Penn State Extension service for recognition as the ‘Outstanding Team’ for 2007.? In addition, he was named the 2008 Pennsylvania ‘Rescue Technician of the Year’ by the Pennsylvania Emergency Health Services Council.