A crane operator was rushed to the hospital Saturday after Fort Worth firefighters carried out a dramatic high-altitude rescue at a downtown construction site, pulling the incapacitated worker from a cab perched 220 feet in the air.
The Fort Worth Fire Department received the emergency call just before noon at a construction site located at 1300 South Main Street. When first responders arrived, they quickly realized the patient was still trapped inside the crane cab high above the ground and could not descend on his own.
The incident commander determined this was far beyond a routine medical call and immediately summoned the department’s specialized Technical Rescue Team to handle the dangerous high-angle operation. The team is trained specifically for complex rescues in extreme conditions.
Rescue personnel loaded all necessary equipment onto their backs and climbed the crane’s ladder to reach the stricken worker. Once they arrived at the cab, crews began administering emergency medical care while simultaneously working out a safe plan to bring the man down.
The rescue team secured the crane operator using a ropes and rigging system and carefully lowered him to the ground. The entire operation from the moment crews reached him to the time he was safely on the ground took less than one hour.
The man was transported by ambulance to a local hospital and was reported to be in stable condition. The exact nature of his medical emergency was not disclosed by fire officials.
