Training paid off in Carmel trench rescue

CARMEL, Ind. (WISH) - In a deep trench behind Noblesville Fire Department Station 77, Hamilton County Rescue Task Force members train on how to save someone trapped in a trench.

“We have all kinds of trenches dug around Hamilton County,” said Jeremiah Monroe, a Noblesville Firefighter and task force member. “(It’s) a fast-developing community so it’s something we need to be prepared for in case it happens.”

Incredibly, just a few hours into that very training on Monday, it did.

“We were actually here at the station coming back from lunch and the call came out,” said fellow task force member Joe Bookwalter, a firefighter from Fishers. “So we just packed up as much of our stuff as we could and headed that way.”

They responded to a man who had become trapped in a 14-foot deep trench in Carmel. The Bedell Plumbing worker was working on a sewer line when the ground gave in.

For nearly three hours, the task force, made up of firefighters from Carmel, Westfield, Fishers, and Noblesville, worked to free the man.

Crews say, in these cases, working carefully comes before working quickly.

“It’s got to be a very methodical process,” said Monroe. “It's something you just can't jump in the hole. If we start shoveling without any kind of shoring … if that comes collapsing on us, now we've compounded the problem by adding two or three more victims. So it's very slow."

Slowly, they build up walls to secure the trench. They also use a vacuum to suck the dirt away from the victim.

“That way it's less hand-digging for us — quicker to get the patient out of the trench," explained Bookwalter.

On Monday, when the real thing happened, their training paid off. The employee was taken to the hospital but, according to someone who answered the phone Tuesday at Bedell Plumbing, he was at home resting.

“It was about perfect timing because we had our mind set on trench and that guy was in a trench so we already had kind of a game plan in place on the way there,” said Bookwalter "Training makes perfect!"

A spokesperson for the Indiana Department of Labor said they are investigating the incident, which is standard procedure. He said they expect to file a report in the next two to three months.