# coworker fell 60'



## 1I'dJak (Apr 22, 2008)

a co-worker of mine on our windfirming crew fell about 60'....got the call on the radio from his partner...then the injured party got on his radio in obvious distress...as the 1 aid attendant i hit the ground asap, and hustled to the scene thinking christ what am i gonna find... fellow was on the ground compaining of rib and stomach pain... the lucky bastid fell on a soft hummocky spot a couple of feet from a log with some nasty looking stubs on it...if he hit that it would've been a whole different show... we got him out of his gear and onto the spine board (had to cut off his belt, much to his dismay)...lucky for him (and us) the area where we were working was fairly flat and close to the road, cuz even with five guys, packing a guy outta the bush is a #####...the ambulance was able to drive to the cutblock (it was just off the main highway) there he was taken by the paramedics to a spot where he was transferred to a chopper and heli-vacced him down to the closest trauma center (victoria)...much to everbody's amazment the ct scan didn't find anything broken, burst or punctured...unreal....he was sent home that day... but as i said, a couple of feet over and he would've been seriously messed, possibly dead. He said he didn't know how he fell... he'd swung into his tree from another, got his flip line secured, untied his climb line and was coiling his rope into his ropebag when he fell....a few of us are thinking he might've clipped into his saw hook, which is close to his D's....was near the end of the day when it happened... so stay safe everyone...stay focused, hydrated, and shut 'er down if you're tired, cuz in this industry mistakes can be deadly...


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## sharkfin12us (Apr 22, 2008)

1I'dJak said:


> a co-worker of mine on our windfirming crew fell about 60'....got the call on the radio from his partner...then the injured party got on his radio in obvious distress...as the 1 aid attendant i hit the ground asap, and hustled to the scene thinking christ what am i gonna find... fellow was on the ground compaining of rib and stomach pain... the lucky bastid fell on a soft hummocky spot a couple of feet from a log with some nasty looking stubs on it...if he hit that it would've been a whole different show... we got him out of his gear and onto the spine board (had to cut off his belt, much to his dismay)...lucky for him (and us) the area where we were working was fairly flat and close to the road, cuz even with five guys, packing a guy outta the bush is a #####...the ambulance was able to drive to the cutblock (it was just off the main highway) there he was taken by the paramedics to a spot where he was transferred to a chopper and heli-vacced him down to the closest trauma center (victoria)...much to everbody's amazment the ct scan didn't find anything broken, burst or punctured...unreal....he was sent home that day... but as i said, a couple of feet over and he would've been seriously messed, possibly dead. He said he didn't know how he fell... he'd swung into his tree from another, got his flip line secured, untied his climb line and was coiling his rope into his ropebag when he fell....a few of us are thinking he might've clipped into his saw hook, which is close to his D's....was near the end of the day when it happened... so stay safe everyone...stay focused, hydrated, and shut 'er down if you're tired, cuz in this industry mistakes can be deadly...


God bless that guy,that could easily be any of us.He has a second chance very lucky


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## ropensaddle (Apr 22, 2008)

Tell him to get a lottery ticket, glad for you it was not a terrible scene
and for him as well. I always though ya died from a heart attack before impact
wow!


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## Bermie (Apr 22, 2008)

Your last sentence says it all! and summer's coming folks...
Great outcome! I'm glad for you (and him) that it was not nasty, bad enough though...


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## kennertree (Apr 22, 2008)

Glad he's gonna be ok. He was very furtunate that it wasn't worse. Stories like this help keep everyone on their toes and alert to what can go wrong.


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## clearance (Apr 22, 2008)

Lucky guy. I never fell outright, but have come down really fast. I landed on my back on an old log and a branch went through my t shirt and Stanfield shirt. It freaked out my groundsman really good, from his view it looked like I was impaled. Only an inch or two from it. 
I'll bet he is a little more carefull for a while. Windfirming can breed complacency, no powerlines or other things to be concerned with below you. I was always pushing of the top with one hand, you know, but why, like who cares where it lands. Habit I guess, then I cut my wrist, oh well.


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## gremlin (Apr 22, 2008)

his angle must have been climbing with him


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## pdqdl (Apr 22, 2008)

*check the equipment !*

If you can salvage the belt and any other equipment that came down with him (presumably before somebody messes with it), it may tell you what happened.

I would sure like to know if it was equipment failure or climber error.

What a lucky fellow. How many of us can say that we got a second chance like that !


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## ClimbinArbor (Apr 23, 2008)

poor guy must have landed on a leprechan. give him our best. 

everybody be safe.


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## 1I'dJak (Apr 24, 2008)

It was confirmed the this fellow fell because he had saftied himself to his saw hook... it was close to his dees and i guess he clipped in without checking or perhaps looked down briefly and it looked all good...strangely it held him long enough for him to untie his rappelling line and start flaking it into his ropebag....check check recheck....


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## John Paul Sanborn (Apr 27, 2008)

1I'dJak said:


> It was confirmed the this fellow fell because he had saftied himself to his saw hook.



I've done that by accident on a few occasions, which is why I will not go to one of these new plastic saw hooks, and use an accessory carrabiner, as I have for over 10 years.



ropensaddle said:


> glad for you it was not a terrible scene


When I was in the USMC, the few times we had something "bad" happen I learned to buy the Doc (Navy Corpsmen) a few beers, to talk about it. After that I would sit down with any Corpsman with any "time in" and let them get some stuff off their chests.


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## PA. Woodsman (May 9, 2008)

I'm glad that he is alright; he was extremly lucky! I hope that this doesn't come true, but I wouldn't be suprised if down the road something comes out from that fall. I fell about 15' when a ladder collapsed about 3 years ago, and "things" were surfacing from that fall months later; sometimes things don't reveal themselves right away. But maybe this won't happen to him-I hope not!


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