Bay Bridge Contractor Struck In Head By Paint Can, Injured In Fall
STEVENSVILLE, Md. (WJZ)— Daring rescue. Firefighters were lowered down to a platform below the Bay Bridge to save an injured worker. Now we're hearing the emergency communications from the rescue effort.
Meghan McCorkell has more on the accident.
That worker was flown to Shock Trauma with head and neck injuries after firefighters went to great lengths to reach him.
High in the air---nearly 200 feet above the Chesapeake Bay--a daring rescue for firefighters.
"I have a high angle rescue on the Bay Bridge," says a dispatcher in emergency communications obtained by WJZ.
A worker on a platform beneath the bridge was injured after a paint can fell and hit him in the head.
"The worker is 25 feet down from the structure," said the dispatcher.
The Anne Arundel County Special Operations Team was called in to help.
"Technical rope rescue is one of the areas of expertise that they have and they practice on the bridge on a regular basis," said Anne Arundel County Fire Div. Chief Keith Swindle.
Rescue workers were lowered down to the platform. They stabilized the patient, and then lifted him on a backboard back onto the roadway.
Beach-goers at Sandy Point State Park got a front row seat to the daring rescue.
"The helicopter came and circled and landed in the parking lot and I assumed something was really wrong," said Ron Buchman.
The man was rushed by ambulance to the park, where a Medevac flew him to the hospital.
WJZ has learned the 51-year-old victim is an employee of Blastech Enterprises in Baltimore. The company specializes in bridge restoration.
The rescue shut down the westbound span of the bridge for nearly two hours, leaving drivers with nowhere to go.
"It's so terrible. We were parking waiting for the normal traffic, I think, for an hour and a half," said Robert Murillo.
Both Anne Arundel and Queen Anne's County Fire Departments were involved in the rescue effort.
Maryland Transportation Authority Police are now investigating the accident.
