News: Clark Co. (local farming accidents 1983)

Contact: Kathleen E. Englebretson

Email: kathy@wiclarkcountyhistory.org

Surnames: Meissner, Dux, Graski, Albrecht

----Source: Marshfield News-Herald (22 July 1983)

Ed Meissner, Louis Dux and Al Graski all have something in common. They each survived a farm accident and lived to tell about it.

The three men and Graski's wife Nancy were panelists for "Is Your Farm Clothing Safe?' The topic was part of the Family Living Tent's program Thursday at Farm Progress Days. Donna Albrecht, associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Stout at Menomonie, also discussed clothing safety.

Meissner experienced insecticide poisoning two years ago. He absorbed the chemicals through his skin. He was cleaning the insecticide box in a corn planter, and "being in a bit of a hurry, I did not put on my gloves." A small amount of the chemical got onto his skin. He started to get sweaty and nauseous "and then it hit me." The poisoning also causes blood pressure to drop and to slow the heart rate.

There was a water tank near-by, he said, and he washed his arms and hands. He called his wife from the barn, she called the Marshfield Clinic and she was told to get Meissner in as soon as possible.He would not go, though, until he had taken a shower. Doctors later told him that taking the shower might have been the factor in saving his life. By taking the shower, he washed more of the chemical off the skin, which meant less chemical to be absorbed by the body.

Mrs. Meissner grabbed the label off the insecticide container "which was a good thing to do, so they (Clinic personnel) didn't have to do tests to see what the poisoning was. They knew it right away."

he was in the Intensive Care Unit for three days.

Dux, who farms near Neillsville, experienced a silo gas accident. It was a late, hot October day and his job was to throw high-moisture corn out of the silo. The day was absolutely quiet-- there was no wind.

He got up 35 feet on the silo, pushed the silo door open and something pushed equally as hard from the inside -- nitric oxide gas. He could not even gasp for breath. He saw nothing but red and knew he had to get off the silo.

You've been up and down a silo so many times so you know where those rungs are, he said. A silo cart was at the bottom and he stumbled and fell getting off the last rung.

"All I could see was a red film, " he said. "I was just a floppin and a walkin' I got into the house and sat in a chair. I didn't go for medical attention.

"Believe me, I didn't have any after-effects, but before you ever get into a silo, turn that tractor on and run the blower. And wait awhile before you go in.

Graski got his clothing caught in a manure spreader. He was strong and able to pull the clothing from the machinery, but he came close to losing the tug-o-war with the implement.

His wife held up the clothing he had worn for that day for audience members to see. His bib overalls were nothing but shreds. The machine got at least half of his briefs and long underwear. His shirt and undershirt were extensively ripped.

"I was in a hurry to take the kids to catechism," he said. The temperature then was 11 degrees below zero. His clothing was wet and when it came near the machinery, it froze to the shield "and slowly wrapped me in there."

The clothes ripped, giving him room to work out of them. "If it ever happens to you, though, go to the doctor, I didn't go for two weeks and my muscles just could not relax," he said.

"Just be darn careful."

His wife then talked about her reaction to the accident.

"He had all his clothes on so I didn't believe him when he first told me, Until I saw his clothes. Then I got a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach. By looking at his clothe you wonder how he could be standing here today. He was dang Lucky. If it were me or the kids, we wouldn't have had enough strength to pull the clothe out.

"We have to teach our kids how powerful this machinery is."

These are some of many horror stories, Albrecht said. But she added one of her own.

She and her husband have a farm near Menomonie and a neighbor's son got caught in the shaft drive of their baler. The bot had a T-shirt on and he crawled under the kicker unit. It pulled his shirt which got twister around his arm and neck. He was found unconscious but no one had any idea of how long he had been laying there, she said. He was unconscious for three days after that.

Albrecht requested that people save the clothing that has been involved with accidents. It would be interesting research, she said, to see the difference between woven and knit fabric. Woven fabric tears more easily, she said, and it's interesting to hear about the near-miss accidents with some of this clothing.

(Non-biographical content was deleted)

 

 


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