I have started this post many times and have hit the cancel just as many times.Don’t know just how to put it down on type.I feel that I must somehow,so the heck with it….
I work for a fairly large carpenter cont. in the Chgo.area.
As many as 12 or so different Forman running different jobs.
Got sent to a job with a forman I haven’t seen in 6yrs.
He saved my life 6yrs ago!
After sheating the third floor deck of a townhome,I was snaping lines for the ext.walls.Guys were trimming the ply. decking ahead of me.
Came to a 2’x6′ bump-out where the ply had been cut but had not been removed,I stepped on it and it gave way.
I went down on my butt on the edge of the deck,three stories up,looking down at the ground,and I can see to this day the piles of rock and dirt,re-bar,and a Bob-Cat.
Iwas froze,not going foward but could not go backwards.I was in limbo.
All of a sudden I was being pulled back onto the deck by the forman!
I laid there for a while,and went back to work.
Nothing was ever said,execpet my thanks to him for saving my life.
I think the fact that it was so “matter of fact” still blows my mind.
Thanks Frank.
I will never forget.
Replies
I never had my life saved, but I survived a 3 story fall. I was framing a dormer and being young and stupid fell off. 4 operations, 3 bolts in left foot, and 70 stitches in the back(thanks to estwing rip claw hammer and wearing the hammer off the back of my tool belt). Nail gun missed the guy cutting rafters by about 2ft and cracked into pieces.
I witnessed a fatality first hand on the job. I was getting a cabinet delivery for a second story bath remodel, and the driver was helping me carry a 7' tall utility cabinet up to the bathroom. Made it upstairs, and he was real short of breath. I walked outside with him, and he was weazing real bad. Started spitting up blood, dropped like a rock within 10 minutes. Ran inside to call 911, the customer was a cop, so he ran outside and started CPR on the delivery driver. Ambulance was there 10 minutes later, but it was already to late. Pulminary embolism, alive to dead in 20 minutes. The driver was in his mid 50's. Just happened last summer.
two weeks ago with a rattle snake
This didn`t happen on a construction job but on a fishing boat up in Alaska. At the end of the salmon run in the Bristol Bay everyone of the deckhands had quit except me. I was a rookie.
We were heading home and ready to call it quits for the year. Our port was in Dillingham and the tide was ebbing out. The tides up there are really strong, about 25-30 ft difference between high and low tide. So when the tide is going out it is like a river. Instead of trying to buck the tide we decided to wait it out.
My skipper told me to throw out the anchor. I threw it out and it caught on the bottom right away but I couldn`t tie it off. The tide was just too fast and the rope was smoking through my hands. I looked back at my skipper but he didn`t see that I was having trouble. I had already toasted a couple of his nets previously so I didn`t want to catch hell for losing an anchor and rope. So when the rope came to it`s end I hung on to it for dear life. I went headlong into the fridgid water. I can swim but I was passing by the boat when my skipper flew out of the cabin in a matter of seconds and handed out to me this aluminum pole that I just barely grabbed.
His name is Andy Golia and he is a Yupik Eskimo. He was nice to me until I warmed up and then started complaing about the anchor
If one of the Doctors sees this thread, could you speak up. Can you tell us an account when you saved someones life at work. It may seem like a regular thing to you, but its a big deal.
-zen
Ya don't have to be a doctor to save lives. It's the guys like you and me that learn CPR or take a very few classes and become medical first responders, or emt's that can impact the most. Call your local fire dept. or EMS agency and find out how you can help. There's a bunch of people burning out of this profession every day, we need your help!
Mike
True enough. The CPR courses are getting better and better. I recertified last week. The attitudes of the instructors these days encourages learning and retention. First respondes save lives, limbs and man hands and fingers. CPR and first aid. Thumbs up Mike.
Hd,
If someone is squeamish about blood and inerts, medical equipment, and the such, do they always have that or if you went to med school could you get over it?
I can think through and mentally handle emergencies, but something spikes when I see images, bad injuries, and even pictures of thoracic catheters and things.
-zen
I had a life changing exoperience about 2 years ago. My then 68year old Dad was in town helping me do some work on a rental property. Hot, humid late August day. I had been 2 stories up on scaffolding working on windows, and had my Dad cutting and bundling some brush for me. Earlier in the day, he had painted an inside stairwell.
Well, he had just gotten back from going out for a break with my Brother, who happened to stop by. By the way, my Bro is an ER doctor. Bro leaves and we are back at work for a half hour or so. It's about 4:00 pm, and I'm thinking that it's about time to start wrapping it up. I get down off the scaffold, and my Dad kind of staggers out from around the garage, where he had been dragging the brush. He doesn't look good, and says that he is hot and needs a rag with some water. He sinks down onto his knees, and then a sitting posoition on the grass. I'm scrambling, find a rag, run to the hose bib, and then back to my dad. He's now lying on the ground, on his back, rolls to his side, makes a couple of awful groaning sounds, and rolls onto his back. Very gray pallor, eyes rolled up, unresponsive.
The first thing that comes to mind is heart attack, since he's had an irregular (but regularly monitored) heart beat for several years. I listen to his chest, and he's not breathing. This property is in a fairly busy residential area: always cars and pedestrians around. I start yelling for help - everything is suddenly deathly still - there's not a soul around. I can't see or hear any traffic. The small yard seems to grow into an area that's a mile square in size. My truck and cell phone are about 15 feet away, and it seems like a hundred yards. Time hangs still but at the same time it is like minutes are clicking away like seconds. I'm trying to keep it together, thinking my dad is dying before my eyes and I gotta get help.
A friend of the neighbors had been driving away and heard me yell. He stops his trcuck and comes running over. I tell him to run and grab my cell, but he can't figure out how to dial. I grab it, call 911 in a panic, then call my ER Doc brother. I tell them both that I think my Dad is having a heart attack. It was seconds after I hung up from 911, I heard sirens in the distance. What a relief. The neighbor friend goes to the corner to await them. I frantically start CPR on my Dad. Give 2 breaths and start chest compressions, and a spark comes back in his eyes, and then he starts breathing. Still very gray. The paramedics pull up and take over. I'm a friggin basket case. My brother peels in right behind them. I can barely stand up at this point knowing that the professionals are now there.
To make this long story short, our Dad stays overnight in the hospital. Turned out it was severe dehydration - heart was OK, thank God. My brother later told me that when he pulled up and saw our dad, that he presented exactly like a heart attack.
My Dad and I have always been best buddies, hunting partners, etc. I'd do anything for the guy. I thought that this was it. Still brings tears to my eyes. Appreciate every moment with the ones you love, try to overlook differences or disagreements, treasure them. Every day we have is a real gift from God.
And remember to keep hydrated and safe in hot Summer weather.
Re: If someone is squeamish about blood and inerts, medical equipment, and the such, do they always have that or if you went to med school could you get over it? I never had to get over it. Sorta just born that way. Many have to work through it by being there. Think about framing and high exposure, wiith wind wipping around your head. You are using both hands, bracing a board with your knee and holding your rapid square in your mouth. Do you ever really get use to it, or do you just work a bit smarter the next time. To get through it easier by repeated exposure.Re: I can think through and mentally handle emergencies, but something spikes when I see images, bad injuries, and even pictures of thoracic catheters and things.When your brother is down, I have faith that you can do the right thing. Just don't forget to spill your guts to someone afterwards , like the firemen do, or you might get nightmares.
but could someone be a surgeon that was disturbed about it earlier on?
-zen
I'd hate to deviate from this most excelent thread too much, but I'll say a few word as you seem to know this board fairly well, and would have the judgement to create a new thread if that was appropriate. I don't know any surgeons that are grossed-out, fearful, or otherwise traumatized by gore.That said, there are the things of the mind conscience, pre-consious and sub conconscious to consider. Their conscience allows them to do unusual and seemingly heroic things. There are preconscience items. these are recalled items that they recall when needed. These recolections may contain fears that they have had to work through via high-level, adaptive coping mechanisms (such as altruism, repression, and humor), to overcome.Then there are the unconcious items that they may have had to work through. I would venture a guess that at this level they are all afraid of the gore. But something happens to these few humans that allow them to push through the mental barrier. What that barrier is I don't know. Perhaps sublimation? That is turning some type of aggression (to kill?) into some thing productive ( to heal?). I don't have that answer. Maybe an analyst will come along and tell us both? I doubt, however, there are many of those type chewing Red Man, carrying a 20 ounce hammer, and hanging out here. LOL.Tell you what. I'll post your question on a doctors only bulletin board and post back what they say. How is that?_______________I would love to hear more of the stories. By grace, I don't have any to share, but I have plenty of stories where I put myself in harms way and narrowly escaped my own stupidity. We all have those stories, and if that is not evidence of guardian angles, I don't know what could be.
Mike, very good words. About eighteen years ago I worked part time as an EMT in a small town, nights, weekends, etc still had my regular job. My very first run where I was the only person in the back was a heart attack. A very fraile old woman, probably in her eighty's. With my legs wedged in between the cot and the bench seat I did CPR on her for more than 20 minutes. It was a very twisting road, and on one curve I had to fight to make the compression deep enough and on the next stop myself from going too deep and breaking ribs.
Right before we got to the hospital I got a pulse and breathing back. I was beat, but felt on top of the world, I had actually saved a life. Once she was in the ER I learned that she was dying of cancer and had Do Not Recessitate orders, but 18 years ago DNR orders only applied to the hospitals, not ambulances. Within a few minutes she coded again and they let her go.
I worked for another 10 years as an EMT, and did CPR maybe ten more times but never got anyone back. In a rural setting we are just too far away to make a difference. You got it right when you talked about other people just learning CPR, the first 5 minutes makethe difference between life and death, and most ambulances can't make it there that fast. We are the people our parents warned us about. J. Buffett
.. one of my first summer jobs on a construction site was putting up roofing trusses, well one day after lunch, we lined up behind the step ladder to get back at it. My boss was ahead of me, a real tall lanky fellow. When he got to the top of the ladder he hooked the claw of his hammer over a 2 X and heaved himself up .. he had one of those tubular steel handled hammers with a rubber grip on it ... well you guessed it, just as his feet left the ladder there was a loud "pop" like a champane cork letting go! I had no choice but to try to catch him to save myself and then the line went down like domino's, everyone was okay, he still had the empty handle in his hand and the hammer swung back and forward on the 2 X like a sword. Had I not pulled him backwards as we fell we both would have gone done the stairwell!
Hey Mc,
Not sure if you still have contact with that guy, but it might be a nice thing to drop him a note and mention that you were thinking of it.
-zen
man, you are sooo lucky. Having fished Alaska myself I know how lucky that is. That water is so cold... and once your Helly's fill up a bit, you're a bottom rocket. Once I was throwing a line of shrimp pots off the back of a boat and got my wrist caught in the line. There were only a few overboard so I thought I could hold back. I yelled to Bear Lewis (the dumbest guy in the world) to kill the throttle. Instead he panicked and gunned it. I took off sliding down the deck. I carried a knife strapped to the harness of my Helly Hansons about heart level so I grabbed it and cut the line. I was dead without the knife.
Another event happened my rookie year (I did improve eventually). You know when you get some new rubber boots there are these rubber nubules that remain from the cast? The net was going out, caught on my boot and I was going with the net. Fortunately my skipper was alert and stopped the engine. After that I got my knife out and cut down the excess rubber from my boots and got some sandpaper and made them smooth.
Whenever I start worrying about the economy or anything else I try to remember that I'm luckey to worry about the economy.
Another benifit from fishing that helped me in construction is that construction only lasts 8 hours a day (or 12-14 if you are running the company). Fishing was 24 hours out at sea or more (way more for crabbers) and then sell the fish then clean and fix the boat. Constuction was looking better and better.
my less favorite job was jumping in the hold and throwing the salmon in the basket. Specially when it got close to the bottom and there was four foot of mushed up fish floating around in their guts. Remember that?Best times, weekends in PWS we'd have a float plane deliver fresh steaks and beer, take the jitney ashore and have a party in God's country. 83 and 84 but remember it like yesterday.
This post brings back memories...Never injured myself on a jobsite (probably because I am not a carpenter).I got in a car accident in 1997. Was hit side on so hard the front wheel of the car was ripped off. My knees still hurt. I was in heavy duty shock after the hit. No pain at all. I thought I would get out of the car in case it started burning or something like that. I got up and stepped out of the car. Then the pain hit. I hurt all over. I sank down to the ground and lay still. I remember thinking that since the pain of moving was so bad I preferred to lie there and if there was a fire, so be it. Fortunately, no fire.Then two months later I was held up at gun point. I had never had a gun jammed into the base of my skull before. Amazing experience. I never want anything like that again. There is something really scary about realizing that the person at the other end of that gun doesn't give a darn about whether you are alive or dead.I got out of all of that with knees that get sore sometimes, a great appreciation for just being alive, and massive respect and thanks for people who risk their lives for me every day. I don't believe you could pay me enough to do what a police officer does. Or what a fire fighter does. And, have you ever talked to ambulance attendants about some of the stupid places and situations they have gone into to save someones life? The list doesn't stop there. Thank-you everyone.
There were a lot of difficult things about fishing in Alaska but the highs were incredible. Being out in that vast wilderness brings memories that you can't buy. We were young and strong ( I never made beautiful or rich).
I always wanted to see and fish in the Prince William Sound but never made it. Everyone said it was just fantastic.
I fished in the Bristol Bay 85-90. The good beer there was expensive and in the beggining of the season we didn't have any money so we would buy a 12 pack of Busch beer but spice it up by adding some Guiness.
Yes I do remember the mush of fish in the bottom of the hold. I lost my taste for fish for years after that but I'm back to loving it again.
Have you seen the TV show the Discovery Channel has been running recently? It's called "The Deadliest Catch" - it's about the Alaskan crab fishing fleet. After watching that show, I've concluded you guys are either fearless or crazy... :-) That's a rough way to make a living.
http://dsc.discovery.com/fansites/deadliestcatch/about/about.html
I almost got my ticket punched up in Maine working as a raft guide. Pretty scary. It was during guide training, and I was on the back of the raft, on the Penobscot. The rapid had a hydraulic feature called Exterminator, and it was a known raft flipper, guide muncher.
I had borrowed someone elses paddle that day, and was told if I lost the paddle, I bought it, there was no way that I was going to let go of it.
The raft guide in the boat before me was yelled at for letting go of his paddle and holding on fro dear life too soon. I heard the trainer say that and vowed no to let go.
I lined up the raft on the hole, yelled to my crew to hold on, and held the angle of the raft. Next thing I know it is quiet and peacefull and cool.... I open my eyes and find myself looking at the gray rubber bottom of the raft.
I remember thinking "Oh crap, I am under the boat"
I reached out clawing against the slick bottom of the raft to try to get out from under the boat, but I do not move.
It was a self bailing raft, which means both the floor and the sides of the raft are inflated, and where the two parts of the raft join are small holes to allow water to drain out. I jammed my fingers into the holes and slowly started dragging my way out from under the raft still clinging to the paddle.
After about 15 seconds, still under the boat, I decided to let go of the paddle.
I still dragged fowards,
About 30 seconds after that I gave up, and thought about how peaceful and cool the water was, and I relaxed.
At some point after that my body washed out from under the boat and one of my fellow trainees, Jason, grabbed me.
Jason got a hold of me just as we where about to ram fist rock, and I was going to be inbetween rock and raft. (this is a VERY bad place to be)
The right thing to do in this situation is to stuff the person under the raft, to avoid them being crushed.
Jason started to push me down, and I whimpered no....
He slung me into the boat one armed and we slammed into fist rock, pivoted off, and slid into the big eddy below.
Without him I would have been either
a) toast
b) crushed
c) drowned
all of which are no fun.
We found the paddle later.
After hitting the hole, I was sucked out and was flushed under the boat.... I got turned around, and ended up fighting against the current and clawing fowards against the force of the water. had I let go, I probably would have flushed out sooner, but instead I spent some time flattened against the bottom of a raft in class IV whitewater....
Because it was a training trip, the run was on video, and it was quite scary to view it later in the evening. To see myself in the raft then dissappear, and then not reappear for 45 seconds, it was a long scary quiet time in the bar that night watching the footage....
I was back quite humbled in the saddle the next day, but with a good case of pneumonia (diagnosed later that week) from all the water I inhaled.
I have been back to that section of river, and, after seeing it and staring at for a while, I have been able to boat it successfully... Its an awesome river, and world class rafting.
I've seen that show too. Fishing crab in Alaska is truley the most dangerous and difficult job in the US. Crabbers are way ouy in the Bering Sea. I met a guy who worked in the Coust Guard and he said they only had one Coast Guard cutter to service the whole Bristol Bay. He said they were always picking up frozen bodies. Even with a survival suit you only have six hours.
I worked salmon however, and salmon like to stay close to shore.Also the Fish and Game Dept. wouldn't let you fish past a certain limit. So we were almost always within sight of land. Only when we were going to another area did we lose sight of land.
One season I met a guy who was fishing salmon but he also fished crab. He said that salmon fishing was like butter-meaning easy. At the time my hands were swollen from the day at sea before, all of my lymph nodes were swollen (if you get any cut on you hands or arms they get inflamed from being in fish all the time and won't heal until you quit) and I'm thinking no way am I going to fish crab. Salmon fishing is not butter.
I saw some big waves on occasion but one time I thought about working in Kodiak and took the ferry over there. The seas were pretty rough and I decided to stay fishing salmon. Crabbing is a whole different story. It's all an adventure though and it's a fast way of becomming a blue coller aristocrat.
I've seen some crab fishing shows, too. Given that the job is to place and retrieve traps 600 feet down under very rough seas, I wonder why nobody ever thought to adapt old WWII submarines for the job. Waves are only on the surface, go a few hundred feet down and the only water movement is current.
-- J.S.
I found the sea to be very unforgiving. Lost four mates down around Hoona and another one somewhere else. Been rescued about four times for various reasons and came quite close to sinking once....finally one day old "Squeeky" went down and I went back to the easy life of swinging a hammer.On the edge.....the only way to live.
I've been thinking about this thread. Too many things that are standard safety practice that when we in leadership positions enforce them are bound to have saved somebodies life sooner or later.
Sometimes i wonder about my own close calls and wonmder why I am still here.
And I think of something I read when doing police training, that boiled down to every 20 drunks hauling in for DUI meant one life saved - I only popped four or five, but how about the times I took a friend homw so he wouldn't have to drive....
I kbnow ther was one time on the job that I thought I waas witnessing a death. My so-called foreman was druying in a 16/12 roof while I was up on the ridge slipping materials to him. The eave was about 22' up and he ahd choasen to do this without safety harness and wiork off toeboards. He stpped off the toeboard, and as he was sliding off, i made a halfassed reach for him, knowing it was no use, and said, "Ohshiit!" I still remember the look on his face as he went out of sight over the edge...
Luckily, all he ended up with was a broken wrist. But as I scrambled down and around the building to find him, I was pretty sure I would not find a pretty sight.
I've seen my share of falls and had a few myself. sometimes denial is good for mental health, but when we are responsible for others, the whole thing is a real burden. I'm sure there are lives you have saved, but wqill never know about. Somebody may have also saved yours in some way thet you aren't aware of ...
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Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime.
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A friend of mine and I worked for a German builder on a farmhouse a little ways out of Louisville - putting on a new aluminuim-sheet roof. The ~12-12 roof was slick even before putting the aluminum down, and a little morning dew was the final ingredient. I slid down like I was in a playground and the guy caught me just at the bottom. Was only about a 10 or 12' drop, but onto a concrete patio.
That same job the builder slipped too, stopping in his front-end loader bucket that we were using to lift materials and as scaffolding. From that point on me and my buddy worked on opposite sides of the roof peak, each tied to one end of the same rope.
Lots of falls or potential falls mentioned here; I believe that this is top 1 or 2 cause of workplace injuries and/or fatalities.
You bring back some powerfully vivid memories of my own dance with the final act. I was a commercial glazier working on a project near Washington DC. With nowhere to tie up safety gear I worked free of ropes and harnessess off an I-beam 22ft. above a concrete slab. Lunchtime was close as I hastily moved a 12ft walkboard suspended between 2 of the beams. I pulled one end a little too far. Far enough to slip off with me holding on trying to clear a pipe fitter working below. I succeeded in missing the guy, but the force of the board yanked me off. I cannot describe the feeling of seeing the ground coming at me at 55mph. What hurt the most was not the fall. It was the sudden stop. I truly thought I was going to die. And with the intense pain of multiple fractures throughout by body, it didn't sound like a bad option at that moment. One of the things that I'll never forget are all the guys on the job who threw down what they were doing and stood by me while the ambulance was on it's way. Most of them I didn't know at all. My best bro rode with me and was there until they wheeled my sorry #### into intensive care. I still get teary-eyed whenever I think about it. To some degree I feel it's part of what saved my life if you know what I mean. Unconditional, selfless human kindness is a powerful thing.
Re: Pulmonary Embolism.These things universally kill fast. I hope you are not questioning your self and wondering what you could have done. You did the only thing you could have done.Re: Doctors.Saving you guys on from job related accidents in my experience is not nearly as difficult as saving you from what you do at the end of the day and afterwards. Remember, your real job is to go home and love your family. You can't do that with a nose full of cocaine, vein of heroin, or belly full of antifreeze.I'd rather rather give a big hug to an eight-year old child and tell them that their Daddy died from a job accident, than from any act of ... well you know.
Edited 5/2/2005 7:54 am ET by hdblackburn
good words.
-zen
It's been a while since a post here has brought tears to my eyes!many Thanks
Welcome to the Taunton University of Knowledge FHB Campus at Breaktime. where ... Excellence is its own reward!
Re: It's been a while since a post here has brought tears to my eyes!I don't know what got to you about my post. But I'll tell you. Some of these have brought up emotions I'd like to keep better control over. LOL
Bill,
Can you still go up a ladder?
-zen
By the grace of God I was back on my feet within 6 months. So, yes I can climb a ladder and am thankful for every step.
When I was a younger man, I worked on a container ship with a crew of Germans. We were transporting goods from Long Beach to Sydney, Aus. and my job was to tighten down the large X-braces that hold the containers to the ship.
These things were stacked three high, and seven stories below deck. One day, with the two-foot wrench, my grip slipped off the nut I was tightening and I started to slowly fall over towards the ocean below me, but my right arm grabbed the X-brace.
I had to stop and think about that, because if i went over it've taken about a mile for the ship to turn around, they might not have heard me anyway.
I spent a few days at sea myself in the Navy in the 70's/80's. Had a few close calls out on deck in rough weather so I can imagine what you had described. What a story!
years back, I was working alone, wit the exception of an electricin inside.. an addition. I was steppiong on to a roof from a cheap metal extension ladder. that I had bought used. In my hand was a brand new skill 77 in my hand .I don t know hwat else to describe, but it unzipped, the uprights on one side pulled away from the rungs. All I remeber is falling and then waking up wiht the elctricin wrapping my arm and a lady holding me down and talking to me.
According to the nighbor who helped, I came down on top of the ladder, she said the electrician jumped out the window to my aide.
I had sliced a major artery on the broken ladder, while I was still blinking my eyes saying, what, what , what. an ambulance pulled up that she called
If I had been by myself , say on the back side of th ehouse where no one would have seen me, Id probablly not be here
and by the way, the skill 77 was trashed, hit the foundation and went into a deep puddle, didnt come out until the next day, no one knew it was there
the ladder , whats left, now hangs in the green house as a plant hanger.
the electrician : I never used anyone else until he chased greener pastrures in another state.
me , their are some things I just wont buy cheap and used anymore, ladders are one.
Edited 5/2/2005 3:15 pm ET by Isamemon
Edited 5/2/2005 3:17 pm ET by Isamemon
You reminded me of an incident that goes back 20 years - Working on a roof ridge, pulling cap and going backward two stories up. I was a kid, maybe 16 or 17. All of a sudden my father, who'se up there with me says, "hey s**thead, don't back up." I ran out of roof. One more push backwards and I would have been on my way. I think I said thanks but that was the end of it. All in a day's work.
Don
My daughter was saved from drowning by another child one day.
My ex and some friends were at the beach...kids splashing in waist deep water. Parents distracted for a few moments. My kid found the drop-off...she slipped under...came up sputtering... and was going down for good when her little buddy Aaron - they were 7 y.o. - reached her.
They had been friends since age 2.