Access the Video Clip: High Angle Rescue
For the second time in a week, high angle rescue crews had to save a construction worker who was hurt at a construction site on the strip. It happened on the 27th floor of the Bellagio's new tower. The worker had to be lowered 300 feet to the ground by a construction crane. News 3's Kori Chambers reports the heavy rescue division has been pretty busy recently.
They've been everywhere from burning buildings to the trenches, but most recently we've seen them high above, using expertise to help other fire fighters answer the call for help.
"People face risk everyday in their jobs, and people have accidents. We're just in the business to go and help them get out of their predicaments." For these Clark Country Firefighters, stepping out on a limb is just part of the job. "The same firefighter that would normally would be going into a burning building understands that he or she might be going on a scaffolding plane, hanging out in the middle of no where."
"Looking down, knowing that the slightest slip might result in injury or death." Clark County's Heavy Rescue Division is called out for rescues that require specialized training and equipment. Most recently, that's meant strapping up and getting injured construction workers down from the top of strip resorts. It's a job where the mental preparation is as important as anything else.
"Yeah, you are high and you kind of look at the scenery and you pretend that you're in a high rise enjoying the view." Of course, it's the view from the ground that some savor even more, knowing that medical help is right around the corner. "You look at your patients, look at your assessment and do what you have to do. You just kind of block it out until you get down. Then you look up and say, 'Man I was up there?"
In January there was another high angle rescue at the Wynn Las Vegas Resort after a construction worker slipped from a ladder.
