Camden Man Hurt While Doing Tree Work

SirTreeRat

SirTreeRat

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http://www.centraljersey.com/articles/20...67372040374.txt

Camden Man Hurt While Doing Tree Work


HOPEWELL TOWNSHIP, NJ -- A Camden man employed by a Cookstown tree service was injured Tuesday while on the job on Crusher Road in Hopewell Township. At 9:55 a.m. Tuesday, Hopewell Fire Department and Emergency Medical Unit, along with Hopewell Valley Emergency Services and Hopewell Township police, went to Crusher Road — near the intersection of Princeton Avenue (Carter Road) in Hopewell Township — to investigate a report about a tree trimmer, who “had fallen and was impaled on a branch high up in a tree,” according to Hopewell Township police Chief George Meyer. Upon arrival, police immediately determined the tree trimmer had not fallen and was not impaled. He was, however, injured and still approximately 75 feet up in the tree. Police later learned Jose Chavez-Chojan, 29, of Camden, and an employee of J&R Tree Service, Cookstown, was working with another individual cutting down trees for a homeowner, the chief said. Mr. Chavez-Chojan was high in the tree, cutting large branches, which then were lowered by rope to the ground. ”As he cut one branch, it swung and struck him hard in the chest. He was injured by the force of the blow and experiencing difficulty breathing. He was tied into the tree with a safety harness and did not fall, but was unable to climb down on his own,” the chief reported. Chief Matthew Martin, of Hopewell Valley Emergency Services, who was in charge of the rescue operation, requested aerial trucks from Pennington and Montgomery fire companies. He also requested the Mercer County High Angle Rescue team, a group of specially trained firefighters equipped for such rescues. Members of the team responded to the scene with apparatus from Princeton, Plainsboro, Ewing and Lawrence townships. Firefighters had difficulty getting apparatus close enough to the tree to reach Mr. Chavez-Chojan due to soft ground and power lines, the chief said. Eventually, large mats were brought in to support the weight of the Pennington Fire Company’s 100-foot ladder truck, and power lines were shut down by Public Service Electric & Gas Company. Firefighters used both the Pennington Fire Company truck and a Montgomery Fire Company truck to reach the injured worker. He was loaded into the Montgomery truck and brought to the ground at approximately 11:40 a.m., the chief said. Mr. Chavez-Chojan was treated and transported by the Hopewell Emergency Medical Unit to Capital Health System, Fuld Campus, and was treated by Capital Health System paramedics en route. He suffered chest injuries, potentially some rib fractures, the chief added. Police closed both Princeton Avenue and Crusher Road during the rescue operation.

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I almost get the impression he wasn't on a bodyline, or else he would've gotten down himself. All that lifttruck positioning and setup must have taken a long time.

Alot of these write ups are pitifully short on details.

But this one makes me think he was hurt and stranded aloft with just a saddle, lanyard and spikes. Must have been pretty green to get clocked that way.

jomoco
 
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Dude, you're a F**king idiot!

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WTF Blow me the both of ya. If it was Nosack you'd both be bashing him. Knid of sick of the landscrapers that trun to treemen with no formal or even educated guess on how to do said work.

OOO hears one, hey stupid, don't put yourself in the line of the falling roped limb when you cut. OOO, maybe he does speak enough english for his grass jockey boss to of told him that.

Wonder if he thinks that 15.50 an hour is worth it now huh?

Got no room for stupid in this work. Just like I got no room for over rated twits.

By and By how's that job hunt going.
 
Ed

I think you really crossed the line this time. Kicking illegal immigrant landscapers to their death isnt even close to being funny.

Youre a very angry man and I hope you get help some day. I also hope your reign of negativism on this board ends soon.
 
[ QUOTE ]
I almost get the impression he wasn't on a bodyline, or else he would've gotten down himself. All that lifttruck positioning and setup must have taken a long time.

Alot of these write ups are pitifully short on details.

But this one makes me think he was hurt and stranded aloft with just a saddle, lanyard and spikes. Must have been pretty green to get clocked that way.

jomoco

[/ QUOTE ]
Looks like he's on Velocity in the pic.

Holly, you don't know anymore details than anybody else and you're making wild, ignorant assumptions and cracking on a tree guy because he was hurt on the job... WTF?
 
You've got better eyesight than me I guess Blinky. But if he was indeed tied in on a bodyline, then he must've been hurt really bad not to be able to work his way down without all the bucket assistance.

jomoco
 
I can't tell if he had a bodyline or not (I know what it means, but I never heard that term before), but the fact remains he was injured to the point that he couldn't get down, at least, he thought that, and that's enough.

The article did say, "...it swung and struck him hard in the chest. He was injured by the force of the blow and experiencing difficulty breathing." It may be that he had painful injuries to his chest, neck, arms, anything that would have prevented him from rescuing himself.

Here's the thing to me. Of all those trained personnel, all that equipment, all the problems they had getting the equipment close to the tree, I'd venture to say that one properly trained tree climber could have got him down much quicker and as safely.

I realize that's a pretty bold statement, and I wasn't there, but I know guys that teach rescue (On Rope 1, 10 miles from my house, and others) and there are sound rescue techniques for such rescues. A buddy has done some injured, unconscious, stranded tree climber rescue training - it's much simpler than all that stuff.

I'm not knocking the rescue effort at all they did their job well no doubt. And, I concede, they probably didn't have a tree climber trained in stranded climber rescue. But the point is, in a thread not too long ago (on another board) it was debated the appropriateness of using a Grigri to lower a two person load. Well, the Grigri isn't the point here at all, the point is that in that thread, there was pretty much a concensus, and this included corroborating posts by Tom Dunlap, that given a serious injury, 'we' would attempt a one-on-one rescue.

But, again, lacking a trained tree climber, I guess there was little choice but to call out the cavalry and wait.
 
They can't call in a climber for a rescue unless he's been certified by the rescue organization to do high angle rescue... big liability issues (I'm really hating on insurance companies right now).

Several years ago the Haw River had a 50 year flood, it was cranking over 100,000cfs... so naturally me and my best buddy ran it, twice actually because it was moving so fast. During our second run a couple of yahoos in an aluminum canoe flipped and swam from the put in almost to the takeout (about 2-1/2 miles) before one got to the bank and the other to a partially submerged copse of trees about 30' out
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My friend is an ER doc and both of us are trained in swift water rescue, but they wouldn't let us help. At the time we were probably the best qualified people to do the rescue, it would have taken us maybe half an hour to an hour tops get him to shore.

The victim was freaking out because a few snakes decided that copse was the safest place too. We waited 2 hours while a blackhawk scrambled from Ft. Bragg. First lowering attempt the rescue swimmer was injured somehow, we didn't see it. They scrambled ANOTHER blackhawk with a another swimmer and finally got him out about 8:00PM.

It was insane, we could have easily swung him to the bank with very little risk. It was a perfect setup for that kind of rescue, but around here they like helos and lots of drama.
 
"...big liability issues...", yep! I pointed that out in the thread I referenced in my post, but the consensus was that nobody would sue, etc. anyone for trying to rescue them.

Interesting that you bring up that point as well. Liabilty is not something to dismiss lightly.
 
"He also requested the Mercer County High Angle Rescue team, a group of specially trained firefighters equipped for such rescues. "

Maybe he didn't get his request? Or could they not help in this situation? Two hours hurt in a tree would not be fun and I would think if his injuries were severe enough he potentially could have died while in the tree.

Mark C, I thought I heard you're a part of a high angle rescue team? Could you chime in on any of this? Maybe you know more about why a climbing aerial rescue wasn't used? Or does high angle not necessarily mean on rope? The tree looks sound in the photo but it's tough to tell.
 
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Mercer County High Angle Rescue team

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Only train on biuldings.

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Holly, you don't know anymore details than anybody else and you're making wild, ignorant assumptions and cracking on a tree guy because he was hurt on the job... WTF?

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I know said company, did you not see me write this before? Trust me the guy should never have been in the tree all he knows is gaff and 2 lanyards, the line at his waste is in a gibbs and runs to the ground just used as a second long lanyard and to pull ropes and saw up.

You can't fix stupid, no matter how hard you try or how sad you feel for him.
 
You are living proof you cant fix stupid! I cant believe the stupid shite that comes out of your mouth! You bring the entire professional level of this board down to AS standards! take your crap to OT
 
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You are living proof you cant fix stupid! I cant believe the stupid shite that comes out of your mouth! You bring the entire professional level of this board down to AS standards! take your crap to OT

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Diddo.....
.....I post these accidents so we may learn, not ridicule, mock or laugh at.
 
hi everybody

i was the first responder at this accident. i don't think i can comment too much because of my job but i think i can comment on a few of the points that were touched on in the article.

the initial call for the accident was that the climber was impaled. he was not. the cut end of the limb (he is sitting in the crotch of whats left of the limb he cut) swung back and struck him in the chest. fortunately the cut was smooth. based on the little that the climber was talking (i can speak spanish) it was determined that he was stable enough to wait while the ladder trucks were put in place. the technical rescue crew was consulted throughout the operation. if at any point the climbers condition worsened other steps would have been taken. the tree is a tulip poplar and did appear sound.

when i got there the climber had on his spikes and was tied in with an adjustable flip line and was later attached to the lowering line from the limb that struck him after the limb was lowered. the lowering line can be seen in the pic in or under his right hand.

there were several rope rescue trained climbers there and the idea of climbing to him for the rescue was considered.
they were members of mercer county task force 801 which consists of several technical rescue units. if they felt that it was necessary to climb to him it would have been done.

i don't think he would have done well descending on his own - i think the final outcome was 3 or 4 cracked ribs. the etire operation from my arrival to last fire truck pulling out was 2 1/2 - 3 hrs.

if you guys have questions - shoot. i don't know if i can answer them becasue of job regulations but i'll try.

lou
 
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