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High-Angle Rescue in Bakersfield

3 comments

A TREE-TRIMMER WORKING IN A PALM TREE in Bakersfield, California, was stranded about 50 feet in the air after perhaps suffering from some sort of medical emergency.  The man was trimming the dead fronds from the tree trunk when an entire branch broke off and fell on him.  He was completely hidden from view by the leaves and nobody on the ground was aware of his distress.  After about 30 minutes, one of the neighbors saw the leaves rustling and hear a faint call for help.

The Bakersfield FD responded and found the man relatively unsecured and grasping the trunk for his life.  His strength was waning rapidly, though, and a paramedic was able to reach him quickly and secure the man’s work harness.   After cutting the branch away to expose him, the firefighters utilized a tower-ladder to pluck him from the tree and bring him down safely.

KBAK-TV has this dramatic video of the rescue:

Posted by on November 2, 2009 • Filed under: rescue, Rescues, Videos • Tagged: , , , ,
  • Dal90

    A good discussion to have locally is with some of your professional local arborists.

    Especially among the climbers, many have training in co-worker rescue work. Ideally the groundsman has a cellphone with the cell phones for other climbers he can call if there is an emergency with his climber.

    You can ask them at the same time if they'd like the cat in the tree calls :) Smiley aside, they are the profession better equipped then us to handle those calls.

    Last summer East Windsor, CT had a bi-plane crash land in a tree well off road. They ended up using an climbing arborist to make the rescue (IIRC he had witnessed the incident and offered his services — still took a long time to access the scene and decide his way was the least risky).

    http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/08/…

    http://www.whpfd.org/gallery/main.php/v/fires/0…

    More about arborist aerial rescue:
    http://www.treecareindustry.org/articles/Safety…

  • Dal90

    A good discussion to have locally is with some of your professional local arborists.

    Especially among the climbers, many have training in co-worker rescue work. Ideally the groundsman has a cellphone with the cell phones for other climbers he can call if there is an emergency with his climber.

    You can ask them at the same time if they'd like the cat in the tree calls :) Smiley aside, they are the profession better equipped then us to handle those calls.

    Last summer East Windsor, CT had a bi-plane crash land in a tree well off road. They ended up using an climbing arborist to make the rescue (IIRC he had witnessed the incident and offered his services — still took a long time to access the scene and decide his way was the least risky).

    http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/08/…

    http://www.whpfd.org/gallery/main.php/v/fires/0…

    More about arborist aerial rescue:
    http://www.treecareindustry.org/articles/Safety…

  • Dal90

    A good discussion to have locally is with some of your professional local arborists.

    Especially among the climbers, many have training in co-worker rescue work. Ideally the groundsman has a cellphone with the cell phones for other climbers he can call if there is an emergency with his climber.

    You can ask them at the same time if they'd like the cat in the tree calls :) Smiley aside, they are the profession better equipped then us to handle those calls.

    Last summer East Windsor, CT had a bi-plane crash land in a tree well off road. They ended up using an climbing arborist to make the rescue (IIRC he had witnessed the incident and offered his services — still took a long time to access the scene and decide his way was the least risky).

    http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/08/…

    http://www.whpfd.org/gallery/main.php/v/fires/0…

    More about arborist aerial rescue:
    http://www.treecareindustry.org/articles/Safety…