WILLIAMSBURG COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – Harvest season is here, and emergency crews in Williamsburg County received vital training aimed at grain bin entrapments. Alison Shuman, communications coordinator for the South Carolina Farm Insurance Bureau, said fire and rescue teams are the first line of defense for workers becoming trapped or engulfed in a grain bin. She adds that having the necessary rescue equipment is critical. A grain bin rescue system was donated to the county earlier this year after emergency crews responded to a call for help from someone trapped in a grain bin. Shuman said no fire or rescue department in Williamsburg County – which has a large agricultural industry – had the proper means to safely extract the person. So, emergency workers had to wait for equipment to arrive from neighboring Clarendon County. That person survived the accident. But it prompted Chris Mishoe, president of the Williamsburg County Farm Bureau Board of Directors, to find a way to provide the life-saving equipment. Grain bin rescue training was conducted Tuesday using the donated equipment paired with a Grain Bin Entrapment Simulator built by Clemson University's Agricultural Sciences Department. Shelly Lovern, an associate with Clemson University’s Agricultural Safety and AgrAbility, provided the training to crews from the Williamsburg County Fire and Rescue and the City of Kingstree Fire Department.  Clemson University Agricultural Safety and AgrAbility Associate Shelly Lovern walks the Williamsburg County firefighters through a mock entrapment to teach them how to rescue someone using the grain bin rescue system donated to the county by Williamsburg County Farm Bureau and Farm Bureau Insurance. Clemson University Agricultural Safety and AgrAbility Associate Shelly Lovern walks the Williamsburg County firefighters through a mock entrapment to teach them how to rescue someone using the grain bin rescue system donated to the county by Williamsburg County Farm Bureau and Farm Bureau Insurance. “Seconds count when a worker becomes entrapped or engulfed by grain. When first responders have the proper equipment and training, it can mean the difference between life and death,” said Shuman.