Fredrick Md. Rescue

FREDERICK, Md. –  Trench Rescue

A 49-year-old Pennsylvania man working on a municipal water main project in Frederick County Tuesday afternoon had to be rescued after being trapped by several feet of muddy water under Eaglehead Drive. “He was trapped up to his neck and was starting to have difficulty breathing when crews quickly arrived and began their rescue,” says Frederick County Fire Chief Denise Pouget. Teams of rescuers from Frederick, Montgomery and Howard counties all came together to save the man who was working on a 12-inch water main in the Lake Linganore section of Frederick Co. when the pipe ruptured. “And the water started rushing in around the worker,” Chief Pouget says. “And the walls around the ditch, the mud walls, if you will, and stones started coming in on the worker.” Chief Pouget says crews had to get the water turned off which she says took about 20 minutes. They used large metal plates to keep the trench from collapsing. “It was a very tricky, very delicate rescue and a methodical process,” says Pouget. One of their biggest challenges was not making matters worse than they already were. “He was in this hole, struggling, for over three hours,” says the fire chief. The man was finally pulled to safety around 6 p.m. Tuesday and flown to Shock Trauma in Baltimore. “He is stable and he is on his way to the hospital,” Chief Pouget tells us. “Very tired.” Frederick County Sheriff’s investigators are now conferring with Maryland Occupational Safety and Health officials to learn why this happened. The 65 rescue workers were meeting to talk about what they had just done, how their training paid off and what they might do differently next time.

Robert J. Faas Jr.

Lieutenant

Montgomery County Fire Rescue

CMD F.O.O.L.S.

About Author

countyfiretactics

Curt Isakson is a 35 year veteran of the fire service. Curt is currently a Battalion Chief for Escambia County Fire Rescue. Previously worked 9 years with the Pensacola Fire Department where he was assigned as the Company Officer on Rescue 31. Curt’s fire service experiences started at a young age as a Junior firefighter with the Midway Fire Protection District and rose through the ranks to Captain. He has worked in volunteer, career, and combination departments.

Curt has held all ranks up to Battalion Chief and been assigned to operations, training, inspections, and was Chief of Special Operations for 7 years. Curt owns and operates County Fire Tactics that covers a very diverse range of fire service topics, as well as Firefighter Rescues, a site that documents rescues made by firefighters around the country.

He has annual contracts with numerous departments to provide standardized monthly training for these departments that respond daily together under an automatic aid agreement. Curt teaches nationally to include; FDIC, Firehouse Expo, Firehouse World, Orlando Fire Conference, Atlanta Fire Conference, Bowling Green State University, and owns/operates the annual HROC, COBC, WOTF, CFT ODP on Pensacola Beach. He is a Florida Certified Fire Officer, Instructor, Inspector, Arson, and FLUSAR.

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