On Friday, June 16th just before 2 o’clock the Avondale Fire Company was dispatched for an injured person in the 700 block of Penn Green Road in New Garden Township. Ambulance 23 arrived and found an injured male on industrial equipment 40 feet in the air. Ambulance 23 upgraded the incident to an Industrial Rescue and added Tower 24 and Ladder 25 for aerial access.
Assistant 24 arrived and established command. EMS crews had made access to the patient using an onsite man lift, where they had secured the patient to the elevated conveyor belt using webbing. EMS also began to treat the patient’s injuries. Rescue 23 arrived and its crew was set to lock and tag out the machine to ensure it would not be re-energized during rescue operations. Tower 24 arrived and deployed the main aerial with a crew including a Paramedic from SCCEMS who would continue patient care. Ladder 25’s aerial was deployed as an additional elevated work area for rescuers. Rescue crews were able to stabilize and package the patient into a Stokes Basket, which was then secured to the bucket of Tower 24 for extrication.
Due to the tight area, Tower 24’s deployment needed to be “short jacked”, meaning there was not sufficient space to fully deploy all 4 out riggers. Without all 4 out riggers fully deployed, the main aerial could only be safely operated on the rescue side of the incident. Once the patient was removed from the conveyor equipment, the main aerial was re-bedded in the apparatus. A series of ground ladders and a rope system were then utilized to lower the patient from the apparatus and to the ground. Once on the ground, the patient was transferred to the stretcher of Ambulance 23 where he was transported to the hospital along with Paramedics from SCCEMS. The entire rescue operation was completed in just under 1 hour.