Injured builder in dramatic crane-winch rescue

An accident-response team had to deploy a crane at a Birmingham construction site to hoist an injured builder 75 feet into the air and lower him to safety.

The West Midlands Ambulance Service were called to the site at Frankley Waterworks following an incident in which a cherry-picker overturned, injuring two workers. The incident happened yesterday morning (12 November) as builders were about to pour concrete during a project to construct a large water tank.

A paramedic officer, an ambulance and the Ambulance Service’s Hazardous Area Response Team (HART) attended the scene. A spokesperson for West Midlands Ambulance Service said: “One man, who was in his forties, was treated for a bump to his head, but a second, who was in his fifties, had leg and back pain.”

Owing to the nature of the older man’s injuries and for his own safety, he had to be stabilised prior to the rescue.

The spokesperson explained: “Due to the location the only way to get him out was to use a crane at the site. The man was immobilised using a specialist stretcher. This patient and one of the HART paramedics were then lifted more than 75 feet into the air from the location and then transported to the waiting ambulance by the crane on the site.”

Both men were taken to Birmingham’s Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

To view pictures of the dramatic rescue (supplied courtesy of West Midlands Ambulance Service), click on the gallery below.
 

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In this episode of the Safety & Health Podcast, we hear from Matt Birtles, Principal Ergonomics Consultant at HSE’s Science and Research Centre, about the different approaches to managing the risks associated with Musculoskeletal disorders.

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