BY JEFF WHIDBY, DAVID BLOUNT, AND STEVE COOK
The afternoon of June 10, 2006, in Canton, Georgia, was clear and very dry; there had been little to no rainfall in the area for several weeks. The temperature was hovering around the mid-90s all afternoon, and there was no wind.
A homeowner, who had purchased a new home in an upper-class neighborhood of Canton and had moved into the residence three days before, hired two laborers to do some work on exterior drainpipes in the backyard. The homeowner, along with the two hired laborers, proceeded to dig a trench approximately two to three feet wide in varying depths up to eight or nine feet. The trench was approximately 20 feet long. The side yards and the backyard of the home were all fill dirt. The slope of the side yards was approximately 60 degrees, and the trench was on a grade with a 42-degree slope.
While working in the unsupported trench, one wall collapsed, trapping the homeowner from approximately the ankles and one of the laborers from the chest down. The second hired laborer initially was trapped but dug himself free before the responders arrived.
CALL AND RESPONSE
A 911 call for assistance was received at 1340 hours. Canton Fire Department Engines 16 and 11 and Cherokee County Squad 9 (an advanced life support ambulance) were dispatched to a person injured. Surmising from radio traffic that this incident may be more than a routine call, Cherokee County Battalion 2 Chief Jeff Whidby headed toward the scene. No units were on the scene yet, but information being conveyed caused him to suspect that the accident involved a trench.
When Canton Engines 16 and 11 and the Cherokee County ambulance arrived, they found a civilian and one of the laborers in the trench digging frantically to free the trapped victims. The homeowner was removed in a short time.
Canton Lieutenant Jason Watkins briefed BC Whidby on arrival. BC Whidby quickly realized that the rescue operation would exceed the resources and skill levels of the rescuers on-scene. The trapped worker could speak little English; a Spanish-speaking firefighter served as the translator for most of the incident.
Canton Assistant Chief Donnie Arp, who was on call, was responding with an extended response time. BC Whidby assumed command pending the arrival of a Canton chief officer. He assigned Watkins as the Operations Section officer.
All civilians and public safety personnel were ordered not to go in the trench. The Cobb County Fire & Emergency Services Technical Rescue Team was requested, as were the following local units: Cherokee County Truck 21, Med-Con (medical control supervisor), and Cherokee County Captain Jason Whidby (Captain Whidby), a technical rescue instructor for the Georgia Search and Rescue (GSAR) Heavy Rescue Team and a very experienced technical rescue technician.
After consulting with Captain Whidby by cell phone, BC Whidby requested a vacuum truck from the Canton Public Works Department and that Cherokee County Battalion Chief 1 order and have delivered to the scene two 100-foot sections of four corrugated, nonperforated drain pipe and 25 rolls of duct tape.
BC Whidby requested the Canton Police Department to close the street leading to the incident site and to secure the perimeter. That enabled responders to get the much-needed resources to the scene and to keep the site clear of civilians and unassigned personnel.
Canton Assistant Chief Arp was briefed on arrival; a unified command structure was established. Arp assumed command; BC Whidby was assigned as the Operations Section officer.
Soon after the arrival of Chief Arp, a secondary collapse had occurred; the victim now was buried up to his face. More collapses were likely. Captain Whidby was assigned as Rescue Branch officer, assessed the situation, and developed the preliminary technical rescue plan for the incident. Mutual aid requested from Cobb County brought 19 technical rescue personnel to the scene-Battalion Chief’s Car 103, Battalion Chief’s Car 102, Squad 4, Trench Rescue 4, Engines 14 and 25, and Med Ops 10-in a little under one hour.
When Canton Training Officer Lt. Steve Cook arrived, he was assigned as safety officer. Chief Arp requested a recall of all off-duty Canton personnel to bring additional personnel to the scene and to staff other apparatus in the city.
Lieutenant Ryan McElwee of Cherokee County Truck 21 was assigned as staging officer for the entire incident.
THE RESCUE OPERATION
The Rescue Branch officer found that although secondary collapses had occurred, the trapped male was still conscious and able to breathe and talk. He reported that maintaining an airshaft was of priority and that two backboards that were readily available, along with building materials on the scene, were positioned so that they would maintain an airshaft through the loose soil that threatened to block the victim’s airway (photo 1).
 (Photos by Jeff Whidby and David Blount.) |
Personnel immediately began removing with shovels the three-foot-tall, four and a half-foot-wide spoil pile lying on the uncollapsed side of the trench, which presented a collapse hazard. Note: A spoil pile that had been on the trench wall collapsed and was now inside the trench. Ground ladders were placed next to the trench to distribute weight loads; they were tied off to keep them from sliding downhill (this problem was addressed more effectively after the technical rescue team arrived).
Oxygen was delivered to the victim by placing a nonrebreather mask in the proximity of his face. A helmet was also lowered and placed above his face to keep the falling dirt and debris out of his face as much as possible. Of the personnel available from Canton and Cherokee County, only four were trained trench rescue technicians.
While Cobb County’s Technical Rescue Team was responding, Cobb County’s Captain David Blount, who was filling in as battalion chief that day, established cell phone contact with the command post and learned that the incident was in Canton and units would be working through a multiagency unified command structure. A briefing of the incident revealed, among other pertinent details, that the trench was now about four feet deep, not counting the spoil pile.
Cobb County, which has in place arrangements with private companies that operate large commercial vacuum trucks, arranged for a vacuum truck, which was given a police escort, for the operation. This was vital, because the suction devices used by Cobb County could not be attached to those on the local city vacuum truck at the scene. The adapters on the scene also would not work with that type of vacuum system. The private vacuum truck was used in training with Cobb’s Technical Rescue Team in the past and had assisted them in building special adapters and nozzles for the specialized application that would allow them to use four-inch corrugated drain pipes to remove the dirt. All of those adapters and vacuum tips were used in this operation (photos 2-5). Having such a tool literally cuts hours off the operation, compared with the older techniques of removing dirt with shovels and buckets.
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Joining 100-foot sections of the four-inch pipe made it possible to position the vacuum truck in the street away from the trench, eliminating weight load and vibration hazards. Also, because the vacuum system is very loud, the distance between the vacuum truck and the operations site diminished the noise at the trench.
Several responders were assigned to hold these hoses to stabilize them so that the high-suction pace would not collapse the hose and jerk it out of the hands of the rescuers working in the trenches.
Cherokee County’s Med-Con arrived, and Captain Joey Bearden was assigned to manage the Medical Treatment Branch. Cobb County’s Medical Ops Unit 10 was later assigned to work with this branch to establish a rehab station and medical evaluation area for emergency workers. Considering the nature of the entrapment and the extended rescue operation at hand, the Medical Branch requested a medical transport helicopter from Rescue Air 1.
On the arrival of Cobb County’s Technical Rescue Team, Battalion Chief Bill Duffy was assigned as the liaison for Cobb County in the command structure. Blount was assigned to work jointly with Cherokee Captain Whidby to form and implement the rescue plan and to rotate as Rescue Branch officer as needed. Portable radios were furnished to Duffy and Blount to allow them to communicate on the same channel with the command post and all other units operating at the scene. As Blount and Captain Whidby assessed the scene together, they concluded that the soil on the incident site was all fill dirt, no “virgin soil” was present, and the soil was very unstable Class “C” soil. Several critical factors made this a very complex operation for the Command Team and the Rescue Branch.
Rescue Air 1’s helicopter crew was briefed by Cobb County’s Med Ops 10 on arrival. The flight crew established communication with doctors at Atlanta Medical Center and reported on the conditions. Med Ops 10 Firefighter Scott Stephens was to take over the role as the primary caregiver in the trench when the Rescue Branch officer determined it was safe for him to enter the trench.
Command requested more units to the scene to assist. Cherokee County Engines 8, 22, and 21 and Squad 23 (ALS ambulance) responded.
STABILIZING THE WORK AREA
Personnel worked under the direction of the Rescue Branch to assemble work and tool-staging areas to prepare to stabilize the collapse area. Crews assembled and prepared air shores and trench panels. Walk-boards were placed under the ladders at the lips of the trench. The slope of ground made this task extremely difficult; the boards and ladders had to be tied with ropes and pickets to keep them from sliding downhill.
Med Ops 10, Squad 23, and Med Com’s Bearden established a rehab and medical evaluation area for rescuers. They also reviewed with Rescue Air 1 personnel, Cherokee County paramedics, and Trench Rescue Paramedic Scott Stephens treatment plans for the victim. Med Ops 10 was given a portable radio so it could communicate on the same channel with the other units.
As stated earlier, one wall of the trench had collapsed, and the remaining wall was in poor condition. The result was that in areas near the victim’s head, dirt was now level with the original grade of the soil before the workers began digging that day. Therefore, at least two feet of soil had to be removed before a shore form could be placed and shoring of the trench could begin.
Rescuers used the vacuum truck to clean up the side that had collapsed to place the panels. At this point, rescuers worked from the lip of the trench on top of the ladders and walk-boards while operating the vacuum system nozzle (photo 6). The vacuum operation was very effective because the soil was loose. Tons of dirt, several feet high, were removed, exposing the victim’s left arm (photo 7).
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Once the trench space began to open up and take shape again, shore form panels were placed, and Cobb County Technical Rescue Team personnel were paired with Canton and Cherokee County personnel to work in the trench on a 20-minute rotation cycle. Two panels were laid horizontally and held in place with pneumatic shores (photo 8). High-pressure air bags were placed behind the panels to fill some large gaps between them and the trench walls. (Many times this space is filled in with dirt, but since the dirt was so loose, it might start to run down behind the panels and cause problems later as more material was removed from the floor of the trench.) Forced air was introduced in the trench and maintained with a confined space ventilation fan and duct system.
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Up until this point, the exact status of the victim or his body position was not always clear. Sometimes he was silent; at other times, he moved around frantically. When Stephens was first allowed to make close contact with the trapped man, he found the victim conscious and with one arm free. High-flow oxygen was still being administered through the nonrebreather mask. The arm had no pulse, delayed capillary refill time, and was cold to the touch. Stephens established an IV and administered an ampoule of bicarb. Later, that IV failed. Twenty minutes later, a second arm was freed. The newly freed arm was found to have bounding pulse and an engorged vein. When the second IV line was established, the fluid had to be pressure infused by placing a blood pressure cuff around the IV bag. A second round of bicarb was pushed through the IV.
As the area was being stabilized, rescuers continued to use the vacuum to remove the dirt covering the victim (photo 9). It still took several people to hold the tube from the vacuum truck, because the suction was very strong and it was difficult for rescuers in the trench to hold the nozzle in place without backup.
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After some time, supplemental sheeting had to be added because the floor of the trench had been lowered two feet through the digging efforts. The crews inserted two prefabricated supplemental panels below the shore form panels and held them in place with pneumatic shores. As time went on, crews had gone through numerous small oxygen cylinders to keep the patient oxygenated. An “M” cylinder and oxygen delivery manifold (with 25 feet of hose) was brought near the trench; it solved the oxygen-delivery challenges.
FREEING AND REMOVING THE VICTIM
As it was becoming more apparent that rescuers were getting closer to freeing the trapped victim, they began to use entrenching tools and gardening trowels. Once the victim was totally freed from the dirt, plans for getting him to the helicopter had to be devised. Because of the extreme slope of the yard, the victim was immobilized on a long backboard while in the trench and then placed in a stokes basket and handed over to a crew waiting inside a basement window. The crew carried the victim up the interior stairwell of the residence. Cherokee County Ambulance transported him to the awaiting helicopter in the landing zone, which flew him to the Atlanta Medical Center.
After the victim was transported from the area, IC Arp ordered all on-scene public safety personnel to report to rehab for a 30-minute break. After everyone had an opportunity to rest and eat, a quick debriefing of the incident was held. Personnel spirits were notably high because the victim survived such a difficult trench collapse.
After the debriefing, assignments were given for breaking down the equipment used during the rescue. Personnel were cautioned that the ground was unstable and dangerous and told that they would continue to operate under the command structure until all were demobilized. The last units cleared the scene at 2024 hours.
The victim, who had been trapped in the trench for five hours and seven minutes, to the amazement of many, was released from the hospital less than a week later.
Sixty personnel from three fire departments and the helicopter transport service had participated in the successful operation.
LESSONS LEARNED
• Trench collapses are very dangerous scenes. An untrained responder can make the scene much worse by taking inappropriate actions even if the intentions are well meant. All fire and rescue personnel should be formally pretrained in trench rescue operations awareness.
• Know your resources. In this case, Cobb County had a technical rescue team that could come in and fill the gap along with Captain Whidby. Without such experts, the outcome might have been different.
• If your department plans to respond to trench rescue calls, take the time to build a relationship with private contractors and government departments that operate vacuum trucks. They need to have a clear understanding of your needs, and you should understand the limitations of their equipment. Don’t let the emergency scene be the first time your crews work together. Plan ahead so you can use this tool effectively when needed.
• Maintain a strict work cycle for the crews. Many times, rescuers will resist coming out of the trench if they believe the victim is almost free. Set a time limit that is appropriate for your conditions (staffing, weather, trained rescuers, for example), and stick to it. Trench calls usually last a long time, and it is better to work a crew for several short cycles than to work them to exhaustion one time and not be able to count on them later. On this incident, this was a problem. Some of the rescuers had taken ownership of the situation and had to be forced to take breaks. Rescuers who did not want to leave the trench indicated that they were “fine” when directed to rotate. Some had to be given direct orders from the command staff.
• Taking the equipment out of the trench can be more dangerous than putting it in. A tired crew may be more interested in wrapping things up than paying attention to safety. Do not let your guard down just because the victim is no longer in the trench. Shooting shores, digging, and backfilling behind the panels in the trench usually make conditions more dangerous than they were at the beginning of the operation. If your rescue crew is fatigued, consider calling in fresh crews to do the breakdown.
• The unified command system works well if egos are left back at the station. At this incident, three fire departments, one helicopter service, one police department, the city public works department, a private vacuum truck business, and a building supply company all worked together to pull off this rescue successfully.
• There are many logistical needs on trench calls. We quickly went through many small oxygen cylinders until a large one was brought to the basement and a remote manifold was placed next to the trench. Plan ahead for lighting, lumber, food, and other needs; assign personnel to handle these tasks.
• Make arrangements for enabling all agencies to communicate on the scene. In this case, portable radios were distributed to outside agencies so all could use Cherokee County frequencies.
• Do not wait long to set up an effective rehab and medical evaluation area for your personnel. This incident was very demanding on the rescuers; without these provisions, we probably would have had rescuers falling out and having to be transported to medical facilities.
• Stay up to date on weather conditions. Had a thunderstorm occurred during this incident, it would have severely changed the operation. Knowing ahead of time would have allowed us to prepare.
• Assign a public information officer to give media releases and provide a continuous flow of accurate information in a well-identified staging area for the media. Without accurate information, you invite them to make up their story.
• Crowd control and perimeter security were vital to this operation. Many people arrived to see what was happening, but the Canton Police Department intervened so that rescuers could work without interruption.
• Turnout gear is not the proper protective clothing for this type of operation. However, head, hands, and feet protection is needed-this means helmets, boots, and gloves. Wearing any other form of structural fire protective clothing would subject rescuers to heat stress. The temperature on the day of the incident was in the mid 90s; personnel wearing structural protective clothing were suffering. Some had to be directed to take off the additional clothing, as they were not aware of the potential for heat stress they were creating for themselves.
• Not every job on a trench rescue scene is glamorous or fun, but all of them are important. If possible, try to give everyone a good mix of duties.
JEFF WHIDBY is a 27-year veteran of the fire service and a battalion chief in the 2nd Battalion with Cherokee County (GA) Fire-Emergency Services. He has been an instructor in the public and private sectors for 20 years; has an extensive background in fire suppression, technical rescue, hazardous materials operations, and auto extrication; and is an instructor for the Georgia Smoke Diver Program.
DAVID BLOUNT, a 20-year veteran of the fire service, is a captain in the Cobb County (GA) Fire and Emergency Services assigned to the Technical Rescue Team at Station 4. He is an instructor in rope, confined space, and trench rescue.
STEVE COOK is a 19-year veteran of the fire service and a lieutenant/training officer in the Canton (GA) Fire Department. He has a technical rescue and hazardous materials background and is an adjunct instructor for the Georgia Fire Academy and a weapons of mass destruction terrorism instructor for the Department of Homeland Security.
