Turtle Plastics “Pays It Forward”
Most people know Turtle Plastics (Lorain, Ohio) as the company that makes the Turtle Tile compartment matting found inside most fire apparatus.
Others know it as the company that makes the heavy-duty plastic cribbing, step chocks, and bag pads that are made from recycled plastic milk jugs. Few, however, know of its philanthropic works and finding new solutions to age-old fire service and industrial challenges.
The company’s latest endeavor is to bring awareness to the very large issue of grain entrapment that occurs in grain storage bins, silos, transport trucks, trains, and cargo ships. Technically, a grain entrapment occurs when a victim is buried in grain beyond his ability to self-extricate. In a grain engulfment, the victim is entirely covered beneath grain. Half of grain entrapments lead to engulfments, which are almost always fatal. In addition to bins and silos, statistics show more than 140 recorded deaths have been related to grain transport boxes—mainly children riding atop grain loads and being sucked in as dump gates are opened. It’s a category with an incomparable impact on farm families: 95 percent of victims are boys with an average age of 11.
Even with training and awareness, danger is always lurking. Research cites an Illinois fire department undergoing grain bin rescue training. The assistant fire chief of the department hosting the training, also a grain farmer, suffocated in a grain bin just weeks after the training session.
THE PRODUCT
Although it is thought that grain entrapment is confined to “Grain States,” this is not at all true. Truck, train, and cargo ship loads of grain traverse this country regularly. Most states have grain storage bins or silos in everywhere from livestock feed lots to industrial breakfast cereal making facilities! Believe it or not, Purdue University research shows that from 2006 to 2016, grain entrapments accounted for roughly 50 percent of all reported confined space incidents in the nation.
1 Photo courtesy of Turtle Plastics.
The Turtle Plastics answer to this rescue challenge is called the “Turtle Tube” (US Patent D809,210). A few years ago, I was introduced to Turtle Plastic’s Grain Entrapment Rescue Tube during a confined space grain bin rescue program (photo 1). For 2019, Turtle has redesigned its “Turtle Tube” by adding a self-contained (no parts to drop into the grain) and a self-latching system for faster and safer deployment. Additionally, it has added a serrated edge to the bottom of the tube to allow for less resistance when pushing the tube into the grain and around the victim. Unlik
- 379
- Article rating: No rating