How EMS responds to an industrial machine entrapment accident

Industrial machine entrapment accidents often lead to severe injuries or fatalities. Responding to the scene of an accident involving a worker trapped in heavy machine presents unique and difficult challenges to rescue personnel. Sometimes the accident scene can be unstable and dangerous. And frequently, the only way to rescue a trapped worker is to sever the trapped limb(s). Stabilizing the patient for further transport to the hospital setting might require heroic effort.

EMS World magazine has the following guidance regarding general procedures for rescuing the victims of industrial machinery entrapment accidents. But you should be aware that the circumstances of each individual accident are unique and may require their own specific procedures.

• Contact the local trauma center to request a surgical team to perform a field amputation. The hospital should have a protocol for this;
• Build a work platform to accommodate the trapped worker and enough people to provide care;
• Have the extrication team cut open the machine housing to give a surgical crew access to the worker’s trapped limb(s);
• Have a cot brought up and placed so that the worker can be laid down;
• Have enough medical equipment and airway gear available to anesthetize the worker during the extrication from the industrial machine;
• Be prepared to manage the patient immediately after the amputation is done as well as the amputated limb after it is extracted from the machine;
• When the surgical team has arrived and the platform has been completed and secured to the side of the machine, machine housings can be moved so that the surgical team can reach the patient;
• Paramedics will work with the surgical team to sedate the trapped worker;
• Generally a tourniquet is applied just above the injury site, a surgical amputation is
• performed, and the victim is freed. The patient’s arm is secured in a sling, and
• he’s quickly prepared for removal to the hospital;
• If the trapped limb is recoverable and can be saved, the amputated extremity is
• preserved and sent to the hospital;
• On arrival at the hospital, the emergency physician and surgical team assess the patient. If the trapped limb is in good condition and the surgeons decide to reattach it, the patient will be moved to the operating room.

Managing injured workers at the site of industrial machine entrapment accidents is complex and often requires close cooperation with other on-site workers knowledgeable about the specialized machinery, facilities, hazards and safety measures present at the site. Injuries involving trapped extremities are common. As well as industrial equipment, such accidents might involve farm equipment, motor vehicle crashes, building collapses, or recreational accidents.

Trapped and crushed extremities typically won’t actively be bleeding. Crushing causes damage deep within the limb and usually compresses the blood vessels. Pain is generally severe, and can be so intense that the victim will reach a very low pulse rate and blood pressure, and then pass out. (Source: Jim Augustine, MD, FACEP, EMSworld.com, 6/1/08) Time and careful attention are of the essence in saving a worker caught in an industrial machine.

Contact the Texas Board Certified Work Accident Attorneys at Denena & Points when You need Experienced and Dedicated Legal Help

If you’ve been injured at work, in order to discover the extent of your industrial machinery entrapment injury, it’s vital that you seek both qualified medical and legal advice. Our Texas board certified work injury attorneys at Denena & Points could hold your employer responsible for your injury costs and win you the financial compensation you need to improve your quality of life and move forward again after a serious injury.

Call Tony Denena and Chad Points today at 877-307-9500 or use our convenient online contact features to start your FREE, no obligation legal consultation.