# Tree Trimmer Stuck inTree...Stung by bees



## b1rdman (Jun 10, 2006)

http://www.kbtv4.tv/news/default.asp?mode=shownews&id=11617


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## vharrison2 (Jun 10, 2006)

Hope he is alright.


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## Ekka (Jun 10, 2006)

Poor bugger.

Now if you had a high line in you would have been able to get away. Maybe the guy only had flip lines, maybe the guy couldn't set the lifeline.

That's the bugger if you get nailed on the spar with no highline in.


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## frashdog (Jun 11, 2006)

makes my heart sink thinking about it. Think I'd be willing to cut loose and take a pretty good fall in the heat of that moment.


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## moss (Jun 12, 2006)

*Insult to injury*

The hosing rates a high humiliation factor. It's bad enough to be stuck and stung and then get hosed down? As with many serious industrial accidents there are usually 3 human errors that lead up to the accident. There are definitely more than 3 in this case. That's what you call a very bad day.

Ekka named one of the probable errors, no highline or escape line. Anyone care to come up with others?
-moss


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## BlueRidgeMark (Jun 12, 2006)

> When firefighters arrived, they were unable to rescue him because the tree was too close to power lines.




Let's re-write that to reflect reality:




> When firefighters arrived, they were unable to rescue him because *regulations didn't permit them to work so* close to power lines, *even if that means sitting there watching somebody die, because making sure the department doesn't get sued is more important than anything else*.


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## DDM (Jun 13, 2006)

Now they get sued for not doing anything.


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## BoesTreeService (Jun 13, 2006)

*Blue Ridge you missed the mark*

I don't know if you are ignorant, or just plain stupid. Firefighters would have had to attempt to rescue the man with an aerial device (ie. bucket truck) The tree trimmer may have not been able to use a truck to get into the tree - that could explain why he was climbing. It might have been that not only were the power lines "too close" but perhaps they were completely blocking the only access to the injured climber. Truth is you are attacking the fire department with out muddying the water with the basic facts. As a captain on an engine company, I am the initial command on many such rescue scenarios. I can tell you for sure, that the fire officer on scene will NEVER sit back because of regulations or procedures and watch someone whose life is in danger. I can also tell you that mine, and all fire officers FIRST responsibility is to keep his own crew alive. We are not much help to anyone if we get ourselves hurt. Those firemen didnt put that guy in the tree, they didnt anger the bees, they didnt run the power lines in front of the tree... It was not thier fault that the situation occured and yet they would still take any "calculated" risk, based on risk-benefit anaylysis (and remember the fire officer has only seconds to make that judgement. Obviously the fire officer decided that the danger to the victim did not justify the risk to his crew. You do not know exactly what danger the victim was in, nor what the risk to the firefighters you are berating was. The victim survived, they did not watch him die. I hope you arent the kind of person who has to berate everyone and everything they do. Especially without even knowing the specific facts, or having any type of knowledge at all of how they operate. That kind of person makes me sick. But Im sure if your house was to burn tonite, those very same firemen you jumped all over would rush in to search for you without a second thought.


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## clearance (Jun 14, 2006)

BoesTreeService said:


> I don't know if you are ignorant, or just plain stupid. Firefighters would have had to attempt to rescue the man with an aerial device (ie. bucket truck) The tree trimmer may have not been able to use a truck to get into the tree - that could explain why he was climbing. It might have been that not only were the power lines "too close" but perhaps they were completely blocking the only access to the injured climber. Truth is you are attacking the fire department with out muddying the water with the basic facts. As a captain on an engine company, I am the initial command on many such rescue scenarios. I can tell you for sure, that the fire officer on scene will NEVER sit back because of regulations or procedures and watch someone whose life is in danger. I can also tell you that mine, and all fire officers FIRST responsibility is to keep his own crew alive. We are not much help to anyone if we get ourselves hurt. Those firemen didnt put that guy in the tree, they didnt anger the bees, they didnt run the power lines in front of the tree... It was not thier fault that the situation occured and yet they would still take any "calculated" risk, based on risk-benefit anaylysis (and remember the fire officer has only seconds to make that judgement. Obviously the fire officer decided that the danger to the victim did not justify the risk to his crew. You do not know exactly what danger the victim was in, nor what the risk to the firefighters you are berating was. The victim survived, they did not watch him die. I hope you arent the kind of person who has to berate everyone and everything they do. Especially without even knowing the specific facts, or having any type of knowledge at all of how they operate. That kind of person makes me sick. But Im sure if your house was to burn tonite, those very same firemen you jumped all over would rush in to search for you without a second thought.


The officer in charge deserves big thanks. It is (or should be) the motto of everyone who is in a position to help-"what can hurt me or my guys." Fools rush in. I have worked thousands of hours around power. The training I got basically was this, in an emergency involving contact, let them burn, do not become a second victim. Mark is not stupid, he just doesn't understand. Better one funeral than two, or three or....


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## xander9727 (Jun 24, 2006)

Most fire department personnel do not know how to rescue a climber in a tree. Unless they do tree work themselves they are not familiar with triple acting caribiners, friction hitches, split tails, open and closed systems and arborist saddles. In our area they contact urban rescue if they can't get a ladder to the guy. Urban rescue takes a minimum of 30 minutes to respond. You are better off calling an ambulance to treat him when he gets down and having your crew trained in ariel rescue to get the guy to the ground. In this scenario it seems there were a lot of things the climber may have done wrong. I don't have all the facts but a good pre-climb inspection may have spotted the bees. Also, if you practice emergency descent you have a better chance of doing it correctly in a real emergency situation. 

Boes,
Grab a gear there turbo! Don't be too quick to call names. I realize that the fire department may seem high speed to you. However, if you were to have spent time in the military or just come from Iraq it may seem pretty timid or maybe even a little droll. We can't see the person on the other side of the screen. Don't be so quick to judge them.

My $.02


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