A worker was rescued after a trench collapsed outside a home in Potomac, Maryland, Tuesday afternoon, prompting a large technical rescue operation involving more than 65 first responders.

The man was rescued almost four hours after Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service crews were called to the 9500 block of Falls Bridge Lane near Newhall Road around 3:20 p.m., according to Montgomery County Fire spokesman Pete Piringer.

Piringer said the worker was doing waterproofing work in a trench next to a single-family home when dirt collapsed around him. The worker was initially buried up to about his armpits before other workers were able to remove some of the dirt around his chest while emergency crews were responding.

When firefighters arrived, the man was buried at least up to his waist, Piringer said.

The University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center’s GO-TEAM was brought to the scene, while medics monitored the worker’s condition. A Maryland State Police medevac helicopter was also nearby.

Shortly after 6 p.m., crews reached the man after breaching the basement wall of the home and removed him from the trench. The man was in “serious but stable condition,” Montgomery County Fire and Rescue Service Assistant Chief David Pazos said, adding that firefighters used shovels and buckets rather than pneumatic tools to prevent further injury.

Falls Bridge Lane was closed between Falls Road and Newhall Road, near the Potomac Village Shopping Center. Drivers were advised to expect traffic delays in the area.

Source