Crane Used to Rescue Injured Construction Worker in Forest Grove

Forest Grove firefighters worked with the injured man's fellow construction workers, who used their crane to deliver him to safety.

Photos courtesy: David Nemeyer/Forest Grove Fire & Rescue

(FOREST GROVE, Ore.) - Firefighters in Forest Grove responded to the Fernhill Waste Water Treatment Plant job site today, where a man had fallen 25 feet, landing on concrete.

Firefighters received the call about the injured private contractor at approximately 2:51 p.m., according to David Nemeyer with Forest Grove Fire & Rescue.

"When our crews arrived they found a middle aged construction worker that had fallen what fire crews estimate to be at least 25 feet from a ladder into a concrete vault that was being built on site."

Nemeyer says the construction worker was conscious when crews arrived, but he was in a great amount of pain with apparent serious injuries to much of his body.

"Firefighters and paramedics treated the man on scene and secured him to a special stretcher called a 'Stokes Basket' which was then attached to a crane that was on site."

He says construction workers used the crane to lift their co-worker out of the vault and were able to transfer him directly to a waiting ambulance.

He was then moved to a Lifeflight Air Ambulance which transported the patient to Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) in Portland.

The fall was not witnessed, Nemeyer said. The construction worker was found later by another construction worker who believed that the man had fallen approximately 5 minutes prior to being found.

Photos courtesy: David Nemeyer/Forest Grove Fire & Rescue

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