I had a first responder contact me for a way to extract a person trapped in grain. On occasion a pile of grain will avalanche. If there is a person at the base of the pile they will be trapped. Even if only buried up to their knees in grain, they cannot extract themselves.

The way they typically extract a victim is to insert a ring around them and shovel the grain out from around them. The ring prevents any grain from filling back in. The problem with shovels is that they have to be extremely careful not to injure the person, and the shoveling can become quite a time consuming process.

What I suggested to them is to use a 2″ Line Vac, Model 6084 to vacuum the grain out.  This not only worked but it was much faster than doing it with a shovel and with no risk to the victim.

Joe Panfalone
Application Engineer
joepanfalone@exair.com