Man seriously injured in Yarmouth construction accident

YARMOUTH, Mass. — A Cape Cod contractor was seriously injured Monday after a slab of concrete fell on him and pinned him while working on a South Yarmouth home, firefighters said.

The victim, a 39-year-old Brewster man who police said owns the company performing the work Monday, was building an addition with his crew when the accident occurred before noon Monday.

“There was an existing building they had excavated for an addition,” said Yarmouth Fire Lt. Corey Kittila. “And they were cutting the old foundation away, and a slab of concrete, approximately 4,000 pounds, fell on top of him.”

As first responders rushed to the scene on Cranberry Lane, the other workers used pry bars to pull the concrete away from the victim and free him, Lt. Kittila said.

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“That was a herculean effort on their part,” Lt. Kittila said. “Saved us a lot of time. So we were able to start treating him right away.”

But the victim was still 10 feet below the ground in the excavation suffering from serious injuries to his upper body, arms and legs. Firefighters and police officers got creative, using two ladders and a Stokes basket, or rescue stretcher, to carry the victim up for treatment.

“We initially put him on a backboard to stabilize him, put the backboard into a Stokes basket, and we were able to utilize two ladders to make a makeshift ramp, in order to, with the manpower we had on scene, slide the Stokes basket right up the ramp,” Lt. Kittila said.

An ambulance rushed the victim to Hyannis Airport where MedFlight was waiting to transport him to Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

The victim, who is a former EMT, was conscious and alert, communicating his injuries to first responders, Lt. Kittila said.

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The victim’s condition Monday night was unknown.

Cox Media Group