SHINE — A 35-year-old Shelton man was transported to Harrison Medical Center in Bremerton with “serious injuries” after falling some 15 feet onto a cement floor while working on the Hood Canal Bridge Wednesday morning.
According to Jody Matson, spokeswoman for Poulsbo Fire Department, the worker fell at 7:30 a.m. as he entered a concrete vault on top of a cement pontoon which holds up the floating bridge.
Rescue units from Poulsbo Fire Department, Port Ludlow Fire and Rescue and Navy Region Northwest Bangor used technical rescue skills and apparatus to extricate the man from the vault.
Crews set up heavy lifting equipment over the manhole as paramedics stabilized the man and placed him into a “cocoon” backboard basket. Crews lifted the man up and vertically out of the small opening.
Paramedics originally planned to transport the patient by helicopter. But heavy fog forced them to transfer the patient by aid car to Harrison.
State Patrol and the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Office also responded to the scene.
According to Matson, a Navy submarine’s passage and subsequent bridge closure was delayed while rescue crews worked.
________
Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.
