>Documenting Baseline Efficacy of Grain Rescue Training for Emergency First Responders Through Pre- and Post-Testing,...

Area of Science:

• Agricultural Safety and Health
• Occupational Safety and Health
• Emergency Response Training

Background:

• Purdue University has decades of experience documenting agricultural confined space incidents, particularly grain-related ones.
• Evidence-based resources have been developed for preventing and mitigating these incidents.
• Training resources for emergency personnel responding to agricultural confined space entrapments were created.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate core competencies and test questions for agricultural confined space rescue training.
• To assess the effectiveness of training through pre- and post-tests.
• To evaluate the long-term impact and participant satisfaction with the training.

Main Methods:

• Developed a list of core competencies and 20-question pre- and post-tests.
• Administered tests to 2,141 emergency first responder participants in Indiana.
• Conducted interviews with participants within 3 years post-training.

Main Results:

• Average test scores improved from 67% to 75% post-training.
• High participant satisfaction reported in interviews.
• Over 25% of participants' services adopted key training strategies.

Conclusions:

• The training program is effective in improving knowledge and leading to strategy adoption.
• A need exists to enhance understanding of specific hazards like free-flowing grain to prevent secondary victimization.
• Continued improvement requires incorporating recent research, focusing on secondary injury prevention, and ensuring consistent instructor preparation.