Clark County, Illinois, is a small farming county in the Midwest, split in half by 35 miles of I-70 and US-40. At just 504 square miles with a population of approximately 15,000 people, Clark County revolves around agriculture and the associated risks — losing just one life can rock this close-knit community.
Clark County Ambulance Services and the Clark County Farm Bureau began a grant-funded program in 2025 called Tourniquets in Every Tractor to help farmers, their families and staff if tragedy strikes.
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Fred Wurster, an EMS consultant who worked closely with Clark County during their county-wide EMS merger, providing oversight and leadership said, “you lose one life, it rocks the community. Some people look at it as the cost of doing business, while others look at how it can be prevented.”
“The is to make sure that the worst day of a farmer’s life isn’t their last day,” Clark County Ambulance Service Director Chace Bramlett told me. “I want people to understand the importance and reality of teaching farmers how to use tourniquets.”
“Farming is an extraordinarily dangerous profession. Farmers can be in isolated and remote areas … in the middle of an 800-acre field by their self,” Bramlett said. “A farmer who is injured can bleed out in five minutes. If you can’t get to the tourniquet immediately, your chances of death are high.”
Tourniquets in Every Tractor is a course Bramlett believes can change long-term outcomes in the
county and nationwide.
Bramlett emphasized the course isn’t designed to teach farmers how to farm, operate their machinery or function differently on their farms … it is to save their life. “I’m not trying to teach them how to use a tractor. They have been doing that for 60 years … I’m trying to help. Training farmers who love their land and love the people they work with … we can potentially prevent a death by giving them a tourniquet and teaching them how to use it.”
Tourniquets in Every Tractor courses
The 45-minute course, taught by Clark County Ambulance EMTs and paramedics, includes a short presentation and demonstration.
“We have the farmer put their arm through a cinder block, simulating an entrapment or crush injury, and have them apply the tourniquet,” Bramlett said.
Another demonstration includes rupturing a 1,000 mL lactated ringers or normal saline solution and letting it drain out. Within 45 seconds, the bag is empty.
“That is your femoral artery,” Bramlett tells the farmers. “You will be unconscious in just over three minutes and fully bleed out in approximately five minutes.”
The femoral artery is approximately 7-8 mm and pumps 1L/minute if cut, Bramlett said.
A victim’s brachial artery is 4-6 mm and pumps 600 mL/minute if cut.
“The patient will be unconscious in approximately five minutes and fully bleed out in 7-8 minutes,” Bramlett added.
The first course, held in September, 2025, was attended by 75 Illinois farmers, and equipped each with approximately a dozen tourniquets to be placed strategically on their farms.
Bramlett noted in addition to subsequent smaller events, held in classrooms and barns, the team
is planning an even larger event — each at no cost to the farmers. The instructors have distributed roughly 300 tourniquets to local farmers, and to date, there have been no reported uses.
“That is good news for our county,” Bramlett said.
Bramlett said it is important to offer the classes after harvest season in the Fall, but before Spring
planting season. The intent is to get the message out to the farmers in a manner that is easiest and stress-free for them.
Farming traumatic injuries: ‘grossly under-reported’
Bramlett noted numbers provided nationally likely represent half the actual injuries, asfarming injuries are grossly under-reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
The University of Illinois collected data from 1999 through 2019 on agricultural tragedy. They admit that the numbers may be lower than reality, because many farms are privately owned and operated, making them exempt from OSHA reporting.
The data revealed that agriculture in the state has the highest rate of worker deaths compared to other industries, the university’s report shows.
Over two decades, the report revealed that tractors remain the leading source of agricultural-related injuries and death. The other causes include:
- Roadways
- Grain bins
- Farm equipment
- ATVs
- Electrocution
- Animals
- Manure storage
Farmers ages 65 and older had the highest number of injury or death, according to the university’s data.
Bramlett added that specifically tractor rollovers are the leading cause of fatalities, followed by machinery and equipment contact, including sharp tools and augers, and that heavy livestock add risk.
“One-in-three people of the farming population will experience a non-fatal injury in their career,” Bramlett said.
Rural response
Clark County Ambulance Service operates two 24-hour ALS units daily with an additional ALS peak ambulance crew and two ALS chase vehicles, responding to approximately 2,400 calls annually.
“You may be 20 miles or more miles from the closest EMS resource,” Bramlett said.
The local farm bureau has instituted a phone tree when an emergency occurs.
“For example, I call the bureau president and say we have a report of a farmer trapped in a combine,” Bramlett said. “The president then calls other farmers with machinery that can aid in the rescue.”
By doing this, specialized equipment and professionals that know how to operate it respond.
Cutting edge for every rural community
Wurster said that the program Bramlett has spearheaded and put together is something that he has never seen before.
“In my opinion this program is cutting edge and top notch,” Wurster said.
“I am a SWAT medic, and I have put tourniquets on people,” Wurster said. “I have travelled all over the country working with different sized agencies and this story deserves recognition.”
Bramlett noted the Tourniquets in Every Tractor training was also made possible with the help of Tactical Medical Solutions, the manufacturer of the SOF-T tourniquet.
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