New York’s Bravest got their hands dirty rescuing an injured construction worker who was buried up to his chest in the backyard of an E. 23rd Street home on Monday.
Firefighters raced to construction site between avenues X and Y at 1:53 pm, and when they arrived on the scene they the 33-year-old worker conscious but in extreme pain and trapped in the pit.
The firefighters then performed what an FDNY spokesman described as a “Trench Rescue,” a procedure where the emergency team dug around the victim, before lowering down a litter and strapping him in tight in order to prevent any additional injury.
“We kind of pull him out in a basket,” said the FDNY spokesman. “That way, if he has any major breaks, it reduces the chance of any further internal injuries.”
After a roughly 20-minute rescue effort, the victim was successfully extracted from his unhappy predicament and sent to Kings County Hospital in serious but stable condition.
A witness at the scene said that the construction worker didn’t look too happy to be stuck in the 8-foot-deep hole.
“He was not comfortable at all,” said Anthony Baisden, who raced to scene from Gerritsen Beach after overhearing the commotion on his police scanner.
Throughout it all, the victim remained conscious and even spoke to his rescuers as they struggled to free to dig him free.
“He was up to his chest in dirt, but he was conscious and talking,” said Baisden.
Following the accident, the NYC Department of Buildings slapped a stop-work order on the project, citing the accident as evidence of unsafe working conditions, according to the Department of Buildings.
