GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — It’s now been a day since a construction worker was injured at Lambeau Field.
Green Bay police say the man was trapped in the building and needed to be extricated. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Having firefighters trained in technical rescue proved to be very valuable during the incident in Green Bay.
“Yesterday we were actually watching their crews do the confined space entry,” said Assistant Chief of Neenah-Menasha Fire, Adam Dorn.
Green Bay Fire and Police were called to Lambeau Field around 10 a.m. Thursday, for a report of a trapped construction worker who needed to be extricated.
Dorn says their crews were at a local mill conducting confined space training, all while this was happening.
“We were not there as a back up team or anything, but we were there watching how does somebody else do it, what can we take away from that, and become more familiar with the situation that we may be faced with if we are called to respond there,” said Dorn.
The extrication at Lambeau took about seven minutes.
“Our initial arrival to the time that person was actually transported was less than 30 minutes, so very quickly, we were able to extricate,” said Green Bay Fire Chief Matthew Knott.
Dorn says every department is different when it comes to the training it receives, but every department has one goal, and that’s to save the person needing help.
“We respond, and when we respond, hopefully we’ve already have a little bit of an idea as to what are we going to face in this building versus that building, so being aware of what’s in the community is the first big step for us,” said Dorn.
The second step is to size up the situation.
“What are we faced with? Where are they? How bad is this person hurt,” said Dorn.
Then, getting them out safely.
“A lot of that goes back to just being aware of what we have in our community and how to make that happen,” said Dorn.
Dorn says the Neenah-Menasha fire department goes through rescue training regularly throughout the year.
“For us it’s trench rescue, confined space, and rope rescue,” said Dorn. “We try to train to an operation level where we can get things started, and if it’s super technical, we can actually call in more assistance, but all of our people are at awareness level.”
The U.S. Occupational Safety and Health sent a statement on where the investigation stands 24 hours later.
No updates. OSHA has six months to complete its investigation, issue citations and proposed monetary penalties, if violations of workplace safety and or health regulations are found.
OSHA says the man works for Mavid Construction, a subcontractor.
