A construction worker on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge fell 25 feet from an upper deck on Monday, shattering both his legs, cops said.
The worker was on the Brooklyn side of the bridge when he fell around 12 p.m. and landed on a beam on the lower deck. Emergency Services Units had to cut through a fence to get to him. They then hooked him to a rope to bring him to safety.
"He was showing signs of shock so we applied what we call a hasty harness," said Let. Joseph Light from Rescue Company 5 in Staten Island. "He was in a great deal of pain. He was conscious, but not alert."
Paramedics took the worker to Lutheran Hospital in stable condition, officials said.
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STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- A construction worker was injured in a fall on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge on Monday afternoon.
The injured contractor was working on a catwalk underneath the upper level on the Brooklyn side of the bridge when he fell about 15 feet onto a support beam, an MTA source said.
MTA Bridges and Tunnels Special Operations Division and FDNY personnel were able to rescue the injured contractor and bring him back onto the roadway, an MTA source said.
The beam was located about five feet below the lower roadway and if that structure had not broken his fall, the worker likely would have landed on the roadway for the Gowanus Expressway about 100 feet below the span, according to a police source.
The worker was transported to Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn, said a spokesman for the FDNY/EMS.
He was in stable condition, alert and conscious with a compound fracture to at least one of his legs, according to police.
Employed by Tutor Perini Corp., the contractor was working on the upper level roadway deck replacement project, a MTA source said.
The Brooklyn-bound lower level was closed for a time due to the emergency response and there were delays on the upper level as well, according to MTA.info.
From the FDNY web pages:
“We received multiple calls for an unconscious worker on the Verrazano Bridge, which led to a multi-unit response from both Staten Island and Brooklyn. The patient fell approximately 25 feet from the upper level of the bridge, onto an electrical conduit, and was unresponsive.
Once we cut the fence blocking access to the conduit, Firefighter Thomas Baez put on the high-angle equipment which allows him to be lowered safely in order to access and secure the patient,” says FDNY Lt. Joseph Light, Rescue 5, who today alongside members from Engine 242 and Ladder 77 executed a complex rope operation in a confined area, to rescue a worker who fell off the side of the Verrazano Bridge, landing on electrical wiring.
“There was no room to put the patient onto a stokes basket, so instead we tied the patient in a hasty harness, which is something we make out of tubular webbing. We hauled the patient up onto the stretcher, where EMS took over medical care. The teamwork between all FDNY units on scene to remove the patient and get the patient to medical care was unparalleled, everything went the way it was supposed to.”
The patient was transported to a local hospital in serious condition.