Accidents happen and people always seem to find new ways of injuring themselves. I was doing some research for a training drill I was going to do with my crew when I came across an interesting extrication scenario, when I looked into it further I was amazed at how often it actually happens. The scenario was a person who got their hand stuck in a paper shredder. I happens more than you would think! People attempting to clear out paper jambs without turning the machine off is the leading cause or entrapment but I was also surprised to find that woman with long finger nails was another major cause.

If we respond to a call like this there are obviously some things that we need to keep in mind, insuring that the machine is turned off and unplugged is going to be paramount… but insuring that the machine cannot be re plugged in by accident is also going to be a priority. This can be accomplished a couple different ways:

1) You can use a specific lock out tag out device designed for extension cords

2) You can cut the plug end off

After lock out tag out has been completed and all of the proper medical procedures have been put into place extricating the patient can commence. Extricating the patient is not going to be that difficult if you have the proper tools, equipment, and training. Having a good selection of screw drivers at your disposal is going to be key, the machine can be very easily disassembled in a few minutes.

I wanted to recreate this extrication scenario for my crew so I went to a thrift store and found an old paper shredder for $3, I used a foam hand and ran it into the shredder. I had my crew go through the scenario including lock out tag out, medical, and extrication.

It was a short training drill but the guys took a lot out of it and it got them thinking, it also allowed some of our members that don’t have a high level of mechanical aptitude to hone their skills and get better skilled with the most basic of tools.

Till next time, push your training to the next level.

I think most people would agree that company level fire training is the back bone of our great profession, it is the day to day stuff that you drill on with your crews that has the biggest impact on our efficiency and effectiveness on the fire or rescue ground. So what are we looking for in a company level drill? Well for me it needs to be realistic, hands on, easily repeatable, and it does not require 4 hours of set up time. 

One of the little props I came up with for machine rescue training is a way to make cheap limbs that we could use to get entangled in different pieces of machinery that we could find. Using the typical rescue mannequin hands was usually a little to difficult due to the hand not bending or reacting like a real limb. An easy prop that you can build at the firehouse for under $10 is take an old pair of work gloves or fire gloves and fill them with expanding spray foam (the type you use for insulating around doors and windows). Simply spray the foam into the glove, be sure to get it down into the fingers and only fill the glove up halfway. Hang the gloves up on a clothes line to dry and expand. Once the foam is dry you can use a serrated knife to trim the access foam from the top of the glove.

What you end up with after the foam dries is a firm, flexible, realistic hand that you can use several times for anything from machine rescue to impalement drills. It works great and is extremely cheap to do.

If you are looking to add even more realism to the prop you can also add an arm to the prop. To add the arm take a pool noodle and insert it down into the wet foam and then add some additional foam around the pool noodle, when the foam dries it will have “cemented” the noodle into the glove. Adding the arm works great if you want to entangle it into a lawn mower, snow blower, some rollers, etc.

You can also make a quick and easy leg the exact same way, simply take a shoe or boot and fill the toes with foam and then stick the pool noodle down into the shoe and fill the foam all around it. To make it even more realistic you can add clothes to the leg to make the rescuer have to cut the clothing away from the machine also.

This is a simple, cheap, easy way to make props that will help you out a ton with your in house training.