| Rescue 53, Utility 53-1, Utility 53-2 and both Collapse Trailers assisted Station 22 on a complex industrial rescue with impalement in Southern Chester County
Story and Photos courtesy of West Grove FireCompany Website.
“First responders from all over southern Chester County, Lancaster County and New Castle County assisted the West Grove Fire Company with a complex industrial rescue on Friday morning at Gourmet Delight Mushrooms on Garden Station Road.
Units were alerted to a subject possibly trapped in machinery at 8:43am. Many WGFC and area units were still picking up at a major fire scene near Unionville when the call came in. WGFC EMS units along with Lancaster Engine 57-2 (which was on fire standby at the WGFC station) responded and reported a subject's arm was entangled in a machine up to his shoulder.
While enroute, Longwood Chief 25 added a helicopter on standby and added additional rescue companies, including units from West Chester, Hockessin and Cranston Heights. Chief 25 became the Rescue Group Supervisor on the scene, with Assistant 22 in command, and 94-60 as EMS Group Supervisor. Also requested was PennMed1 from Lancaster which provides a physician from Lancaster General Hospital.
Crews from various rescue companies began to work together with a plan to disassemble the industrial equipment around the patient, with dozens of firefighters and EMS personnel working in partnership, part of a large multi-agency mutual aid response. JeffStat3 landed at the scene to provide patient transport. Then the Delaware State Police helicopter also arrived bringing with it emergency room physicians from the Christiana Hospital Trauma Center. In all, the response included two EMS physicians, two trauma surgeons, three rescues, and multiple other agencies.
All worked together to extricate the worker at 10:25am after an extensive rescue evolution. Delaware's Trooper 4 helicopter transported the patient to the trauma center at Christiana shortly thereafter at 11:00am.
While industrial rescues this complex are relatively rare, this emergency call showcased the strong mutual aid and cooperative relationships that hallmark fire, rescue and EMS work in our area. The WGFC thanks all of the agencies and personnel involved in this successful rescue” |
