On March 23, Baltimore City firefighters affected the rescue of a man from a ten foot deep trench while attempting to repair a sewer line.
At approximately 10:30 a.m. Baltimore City firefighters responded to the 4100 block of Fairfax Road for a report of a man stuck in a hole. Upon arrival, members confirmed that a worker was pinned in a trench after a side wall of dirt collapsed on top of him.
Further assessment revealed that a small contracting company was performing a sewer line repair using a backhoe. After digging a 10 foot deep, 4 foot wide and 20 foot long trench, a worker entered the hole with a shovel when the side wall of dirt suddenly collapsed on top of him. The worker was found pinned between an underground water line and tons of dirt nearly to his chest.
The Incident Commander requested the Special Rescue Operations Team (SRO) to affect the rescue. Considered experts in trench, swift water, urban search and rescue, the (SRO) team ascended on location performed an initial assessment and determined that this was in fact a dire emergency.
The team identified equipment and tools that would be needed to begin rescue operations. The primary objective was to determine the patient's condition and identify any obvious injuries. Secondly, it was necessary to sure up and stabilize the exterior dirt walls that had already collapsed on top of the worker.
Subsequent operations involved a systematic approach to remove tons of dirt to gain access to the patient. It was determined that this rescue operation would be lengthy and arduous. To make the patient comfortable the (SRO) team provided heater air while paramedics established intravenous fluids and administered oxygen.
As the rescue effort ensued, the patient reported a loss of sensation in his lower extremities that were pinned beneath tons of soil. As this raised concerns for the onsite paramedics, they requested the expertise of the University of Maryland's Shock Trauma Medical "GO TEAM".
The trauma "Go Team" consist of a cadre of medical and trauma physicians who are able to perform invasive procedures at the scenes of traumatic incidents where victims lives are compromised by a life and death situation.
Members descended ten feet beneath ground level in a confined space for hours to remove dirt from around the patient and sewer lines to free the worker. Dirt was placed in five gallon buckets and removed from the trench by rescue team members. Because of the limited access, confined space and associated tasks it was necessary for members to rotate deployment into the trench.
Shortly after 4:00 p.m. the team made enough progress to clearly free the worker. Feeling relieved, he was harnessed and hoisted from the dredges of a near abyss. Fortunately, he suffered no obvious life threatening injuries and was transported to University Shock Trauma Center for further evaluation.
A team of nearly twenty-five members worked deliberate and tactful to make headway in rescuing a worker who had been trapped for nearly six hours. The culminated efforts of firefighters, paramedics, and Incident Commanders SRO and support staff on the scene greatly contributed to the successful rescue of this worker.
