July 10th, 2010

Nashville Tennessee - A crane operator suffered a stroke while operating the crane on Saturday. A firefighter climbed the crane and prepared the man for transport off the crane in a stretcher and harness. It sounds as if in this case there was a second taller tower crane on site which would have saved valuable time. The condition of the operator wasn't known.

There are a few things to look at to aid in saving operators who have medical emergencies on cranes. The ideal scenario is to have a package on the crane ready to go to save the operator. in a job box if you had a sheave that could quickly be mounted to a lacing (appropriate rigging), a rescue basket, a few extra universal harnesses, and sufficient rope, we could expedite rescues. rescuers wouldn't need to carry or prepare gear and climb the towers with it. There is a problem with this... many fire departments wouldn't use someone else's gear. We all know that just a few minutes can sometimes be the difference between life and death in some emergencies so if even we had the basket and harness ready to go, we'd be ahead of the game.

One company that addresses tower rescue with is Gravitec. I'm aware of Gravitec because they are somewhat local to me and they market well. They may have solutions that would allow you to come up with a rescue plan more detailed than simply "Call the Fire Department". Maybe your fire department would use this gear if it were present and partially set up prior to their arrival.

Another option is one that I'm affiliated with that would only apply in situations like this Nashville one where a second crane is present. Thats a Boscaro Rescue Platform. It's a man basket designed with an end door that opens like a ramp to allow easy ingress/egress of a stretcher. it also allows the medic to work on the patient while in transit if he were to need CPR or pressure to prevent bleeding. I could go on with more options that it can come with like O2 Tank mounts, etc. It's a crane based ambulance. This would prevent climb time and I don't know why any department would not use it. You can contact me for this product. gaytor.rasmussen@gmail.com

We have to plan ahead for these incidents. Most fire departments are capable of addressing these scenarios. But planning ahead and having the right equipment and plan in place can make the difference between life and death. These incidents happen. Pick up the phone and talk to the fire department during the crane planning phase. Find out what assistance will be helpful for them and what they will accept to save time.