Man pulled from collapsed trench in American Fork
Emergency personnel lift a construction worker, who was buried and injured in a trench collapse, into a medical helicopter in American Fork on Friday, August 10, 2012. JIM MCAULEY/Daily Herald
The ladder that a construction worker was holding when the trench collapsed on him is seen in American Fork on Friday, August 10, 2012. JIM MCAULEY/Daily Herald
Battalion Chief Doug Bateman of the American Fork Fire Department answers questions after a construction worker was buried in a trench collapse on Friday, August 10, 2012. JIM MCAULEY/Daily Herald
The trench that a construction worker was buried in is seen in American Fork on Friday, August 10, 2012. JIM MCAULEY/Daily Herald
A medical helicopter carries an injured construction worker after he was buried in a collapsed trench in American Fork on Friday, August 10, 2012. JIM MCAULEY/Daily Herald
Emergency personnel lift a construction worker, who was buried and injured in a trench collapse, into a medical helicopter in American Fork on Friday, August 10, 2012. JIM MCAULEY/Daily Herald
AMERICAN FORK — A construction worker was pulled from a trench by emergency medical and rescue personnel Friday morning after it collapsed as the man and other crew members were preparing to install a sewer line for expansion of The Meadows shopping center in western American Fork.
The worker, a 29-year-old man, was sent by medical helicopter to the University of Utah. He had reportedly been buried to above his waist.
Battalion Chief Doug Bateman of the American Fork Fire Department said the injured man had an obviously broken femur and possibly some internal injuries. Bateman said the worker was conscious during the rescue.
“He was in severe pain but conscious the whole time,” he said. He said the situation was critical enough to warrant having the medical helicopter ready for service.
“Any time you have something like that you have to be wary,” he said.
Work on the project has been shut down, pending an investigation by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. Early Friday afternoon an OSHA investigator was on the scene.
Bateman said the injured man was fortunate.
“Not very many people come out of a trench collapse alive,” he said. “History shows that on trench collapses, not many come out alive because of factors of compression on the body and the forces that are put on those limbs.”
The trench was approximately 15 feet deep. The man was reportedly working to move a trench box, which shores up the sides, from one location to another as the work continued. The area is on the east side of Interstate 15 and west of the Cinemark movie theaters.
A ladder the man had been standing on was seen afterward, bent to a nearly 90 degree angle.
Three other workers were nearby when the collapse happened. They called 911 for help and began a rescue attempt.
Cody Stansfield was one. He did not see the collapse, but was onsite immediately after.
“It is a bad feeling,” he said. “It is scary. He was in a lot of pain. He is a good guy and had a family. We hope he is OK. This is a dangerous profession. I am glad he is alive.”
He had worked with the injured man off and on over a three- or four-month period, he estimated.
“We are worried for him,” he said. “There was a lot of adrenaline flowing.”
Stansfield said such accidents were uncommon.
“In 15 years I have never seen anything like it,” he said.
When emergency personnel arrived on the scene, they had to be sure the trench would not collapse further.
“We had to make sure it was safe for our personnel,” Bateman said. After that, they began work with shovels to extricate the injured man.
The American Fork Fire Department responded to the 10:58 a.m. call, as did the Lehi Fire Department as part of the North Utah County special response team. Bateman said crews were able to get the man out about 30 minutes after receiving the call.
“Other agencies were en route,” Bateman said. “Once the assessment was made we cut other agencies free to quit responding. We cut it back to a level II response.”
He complimented those who did the rescue.
“I’m really impressed with the efforts put forth by the personnel,” he said. “They got him out and did it in a safe and efficient manner.”
Daily Herald reporter Paige Fieldsted contributed to this report.
