(Poulsbo, North Kitsap County) A 35 year old Shelton man was transported to Harrison Hospital in Bremerton for serious injuries after he fell approximately 15 feet onto a cement floor. The worker was beginning his decent into one of the concrete vault-type pontoons which hold up the Hood Canal Floating Bridge, when he fell at 7:30 this morning.
Rescue units from Poulsbo Fire Department, Port Ludlow Fire and Rescue and Navy Region Northwest Bangor utilized technical rescue skills to extricate the victim from the vault. While crews set up heavy lifting equipment over the manhole-type opening, paramedics worked to stabilize the patient and then placed him onto a “cocoon” backboard basket prior to safely lifting the patient up and vertically out of the small opening. Paramedics originally planned to transport the patient via an Airlift NW helicopter, however due to heavy fog, were diverted to Harrison Hospital in Bremerton.
With the recent bridge closure and multi-agency technical rescue drills, crews were well prepared for this type of incident. Confined space rescues are labor intense and require highly trained technical rescue teams. Poulsbo Fire Department Battalion Chief Peterson said, “All our preparation paid off and the extrication went smoothly.” Traffic remained open on the bridge. Washington State Patrol and the Kitsap County Sheriffs office also responded to the scene. A navy submarine’s passage and subsequent bridge closure was delayed while rescue crews worked.
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