The foreman at a worksite had just returned from his lunch break Thursday afternoon, when he came across a sub-contractor employee who was partially buried in a trench that had collapsed.
“I ran over there, took a quick look to see what the state of my trench was in, and hopped down there and just cleared out his airway,” Nick Thomas explained.
Thomas said he wasn’t concerned for his own safety, but was focused on the man who was buried up to his head in sand and rubble.
“He was spitting the sand out, essentially,” he said. “He had my one hand, so my other hand just kept clearing [the dirt] away and asking him if he could still breathe.”
He stayed with the man until rescue crews arrived.
Nick Thomas jumped into action to help save a man partially buried in a collapsed trench.
From training to real-world scenario
Edmonton Fire Rescue’s technical rescue crew was doing its trench rescue training, which it does once every two years, when it received the call.
“It was sheer coincidence,” firefighter Shane Mulligan said.
Mulligan said when he first arrived at the scene, he assessed the situation and found the man was partially buried about 16 feet deep.
“Only the top of his helmet was visible and his fingers. At that moment, we saw his hand moving, so we knew he was alive and breathing.”
The team’s first task was to stabilize the sides of the trench, to prevent further collapse and then it used the construction company’s equipment to suck the dirt out.
Emergency crews spent about three hours freeing the man, who was taken to hospital.
‘Obviously something went wrong’
GS Construction is the main contractor for the sewer repair and the man who was trapped is a subcontractor with Orion Environmental.
Terran Sandwith, president of GS Construction, said they were installing a shoring cage – which helps to keep the crews safe while they do the repairs – when the incident happened.
“Obviously something went wrong and we got to get to the bottom of it and change what we’re doing,” he said.
Sandwith said in the company’s 44-year history, it’s never seen an incident like this, prompting a safety meeting Friday. He said they will also be reviewing their safety practices.
“This has never happened to us, so definitely a little bit of a shock. We’re going to leverage this as a learning lesson and trying to be better going forward.”
Sandwith said he heard the man is now back at work, on modified duty.
Occupational Health and Safety officers are investigating the incident.
With files from Bill Fortier
