SCRANTON, Pa. — In the video from WPVI-TV/6ABC, you can see the rescue efforts to save a man after he was buried by dirt while working in a trench in Allentown. Local crews spent hours trying to get the man out safely.
Scranton Fire Chief John Judge says the department is part of a regional rescue team, and when a major accident like this happens, they have members who are activated to help.
"These are very low-frequency events, but they are extremely high risk, not only to the person that's in peril but to our members," Chief Judge said.
Robert Zoltewicz was one of the five members of the Scranton Technical Rescue Team sent to help with the rescue efforts. Zoltewicz says they tried to prepare as best they could on the way down because a collapse like this is one of the most dangerous situations for first responders.
"A lot of training occurs for something that you might never face, but it was. Yesterday was, in fact, a day, and it ended up being a very successful operation," said Zoltewicz.
Zoltewicz says they train alongside other rescue teams from Lehigh County and recently completed structural safety training, which includes collapses.
"As you begin to unearth beneath the patient, you know, supplemental shoring concerns come into play, in the picture, and a lot of discussion, and then the timeline for the patient because he was in the in the trench for quite some time," Zoltewicz said.
"It's what all those hundreds of hours of training have done — to prepare to have this positive outcome. So, it's good to see the fruits of that labor, and I'm extremely proud of the staff that went down there and also the members down in the Allentown Lehigh Valley area," Chief Judge added.
The man rescued from the trench is being treated in the hospital but is expected to recover.
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