A farm machine rescue scenario exercise could help Laois Fire Service save lives in an emergency farm situation in the future.
A generous offer from a local farmer provided the fire fighters with a rare opportunity to work on farm machinery and go through rescue scenarios.
“A local farmer offered to make his yard available to use for the farm accident scenario and put his machinery at our disposal, which was a great opportunity, particularly at this very busy time of year for farming,” Assistant Chief Fire Officer Anthony Tynan explained.
“It brought home, first hand for us, the devastating consequences of a farm accident,” Mr Tynan said.
Anyone involved in such a situation is at the very least most likely facing a life-changing injury, if they survive such an accident.
With far more powerful machinery being used on farms, and many farmers also much busier, the potential for farm accidents has never been greater.
Dummies
During the exercise, different farm accident scenarios were created, using life size dummies, so they could work on how they could save a person who was caught in a machine, or trapped under one.
“The last thing anyone wants is a situation where we have to come and take someone out of a machine,” Mr Tynan said.
He said once they are called to such a scene, their first priority is to keep someone alive.
“It is all about getting someone out as safely and as quickly as possible,” he said.
Firefighters from LS17 Abbeyleix and LS14 Durrow attended the recent event.
Mr Tynan said there are eight stations throughout the county and they would like to provide similar training scenario events for other stations.
He hoped other farmers would come forward to let them use machinery and their farmyard so they can be prepare for such incidents.
“We work in rural areas and it is something we would like to try to organise on a regular basis. It comes down to what machinery is available to us,” Mr Tynan said.
SEE ALSO – Laois U-17s defeated despite brave second half comeback
