On Monday April 25, at 7:43 am, Huntertown Fire Department was dispatched on an EMS call to a construction site where a person had a potential head injury.
When the ambulance arrived on scene, they found a completely different situation.
A construction worker was at the bottom of a 12 foot trench that collapsed on him. There was no trench box in the hole, preventing such a tragedy from happening. As soon as the scene turned from a medical call to a trench rescue, the Fort Wayne Specialty Operations Rescue Team (S.O.R.T.) was requested along with Washington Township Fire Department and Southwest Fire District Trench Rescue.
Other agencies included with this response were the Samaritan Helicopter and TRAA Paramedics.
The worker was eventually partially uncovered and still able to communicate.
His fellow co-workers refused to leave the trench, endangering there own safety from a possible secondary collapse. With their safety as a primary concern, they were ordered out of the trench. Reluctently they exited.
The entire rescue lasted just under 2 hours.
The worker was extricated and flown to Parkview Memorial Hospital in fair condition.
His injuries were not life threatening.
