Last week, Suffolk (VA) firefighters responded to a complex technical rescue incident at a construction site that left one person dead.
According to a release from the department, on August 1, 2024, Suffolk Fire & Rescue and Suffolk Police responded to Second Avenue and Pitchkettle Rd. for reports of an unconscious person experiencing a medical emergency at a construction site. Emergency communications dispatched the incident at 1:13 p.m.
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Engine 1, Rescue 1, and Medic 1 arrived at 1:15 p.m. to find a male worker approximately 15 feet in the bottom of a trench box. Firefighters arrived to find that contractors were repairing utilities in the roadway and a male contractor had fallen unconscious. Firefighter-paramedics initatied advanced life support treatment in the trench. Due to the complexity of the rescue, a technical rescue involving trench, confined space, and rope rescue was executed by the Suffolk Technical Rescue Team. The unconscious adult male was removed from the trench and paramedics continued advanced life support care to an area hospital. The patient subsequently passed away.
