# not sure if he was a pro



## cassandrasdaddy (May 30, 2010)

City man, 44, dies in tree-cutting accident

City man dies in tree-cutting accident


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BY #### HAMMERSTROM

Date published: 5/30/2010

BY #### HAMMERSTROM

A Fredericksburg man died early yesterday in a tree-cutting accident in his yard.

David Miller, 44, who lived on Seneca Terrace in the Altoona section of the city, was pronounced dead on arrival at Mary Washington Hospital.

According to city Fire Department spokeswoman Natatia Bledsoe, Miller had been cutting off the top of a tree and was in a harness about 30 feet up the tree.

After he made the cut, the cut-off section shifted, pinning him at the chest against the main trunk of the tree, Bledsoe said.

Firefighters were called, but the initial call didn't mention the severity of the accident, Bledsoe said.

A tower truck was then called, and firefighters had to remove the limb before removing the victim, she said.

Bledsoe said Miller was conscious and communicating when they arrived, but soon became unconscious.

Miller was married and lived with his wife, a daughter and two stepsons, Bledsoe said.


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## rarefish383 (May 30, 2010)

Sad news, again we need aerial rescue, Joe.


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## dandandatreeman (May 30, 2010)

how would we as trained climbers be able to be summoned to the job that these things happen? I know when I was trained in rescue they said that you really only have a short time before someone will die from there injuries in a tree. I also know that if I were to get in trouble on one of my side jobs there would be very little hope of getting help on time. WHAT DO WE DO? These things are senseless


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## cassandrasdaddy (May 30, 2010)

*i'm done climbing*

only reason i keep all my gear is just in case. i would hate to watch someone die who could be saved. in this case the dept has a big tower truck and if it had been dispatched first call he mighta made it


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## tree md (May 30, 2010)

Condolences to the family. Very sad.

An ambulance and fire and rescue truck was dispatched to the residence where I was working last week. My client's mother had had a heart attack. I was blocking wood off of the spar when they showed up and was about 20' above the roof line. I guess they assumed they were there for me. The first thing they said is I hope we're not here for you buddy, we can't get up there to ya.


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## dandandatreeman (May 30, 2010)

tree md said:


> Condolences to the family. Very sad.
> 
> An ambulance and fire and rescue truck was dispatched to the residence where I was working last week. My client's mother had had a heart attack. I was blocking wood off of the spar when they showed up and was about 20' above the roof line. I guess they assumed they were there for me. The first thing they said is I hope we're not here for you buddy, we can't get up there to ya.



What if it were you....fire and RESCUE would fall so very short in this situation. Where a trained person would be able to get it done. Calling a fire department to a tree rescue is like calling a plumber for an electrical problem. Is there some way to put ourselves that ARE trained in rescue situations available to the fire department to call instead of them calling a tower truck? If you got a call of a fellow climber in trouble would you go and try to put your knowledge to work. would the fire and rescue team even listen to what you had to say? Hope none of us have to find out.


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## pdqdl (Jun 1, 2010)

It will never happen, except for perhaps volunteer fire departments, with a volunteer aerial rescue man.

There is a huge liability issue for calling a rescue contractor. If you screw up, the agency that hired you could be sued for your mistake. More likely, the rescuer would get sued for every call they went out on, because a contractor is not very protected from litigation like government employees are. Furthermore, it is highly doubtful that the insurance for your tree operations would cover aerial rescues, so whoever hired you would be eating the worker's comp tab for hiring you, too.

Most public rescue agencies don't have any means (within their budget) to pay for a rescue contractor, so how would you get paid? If you were working for them out of the goodness of your heart, how could they be assured that you were really on call, ready to respond, unless they were paying you for a contracted service.

Too many legal questions, it is unlikely to ever happen in a litigious society. Thank the lawyers for their wise intervention, please.


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## dandandatreeman (Jun 1, 2010)

*right.*

That's ok if I ever got the call I would get it on for my fellow climbers! I could live the rest of my life with nothing, then to sit on the side lines and see someone die for lack of knowledge of what and why a aerial rescue should be done. Well I guess I would have to be there....hmmm I guess that's why people stress having people on the crew that ARE TRAINED around. I just kicked myself off my soap box...ya'll please be safe.


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