PORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV) - A construction worker has been hospitalized after a rotary drilling machine tipped over on the Oregon Health & Science University campus Friday morning.
Portland Fire & Rescue responded to the incident at about 10:45 a.m. at 545 Southwest Campus Drive.
PF&R said the drill rig weighing about 100,000 pounds had trapped the operator inside.
Other workers on the construction site placed a jack under the cab as they waited for a rescue team to arrive.
“It was super helpful to have the construction crew to have the rig jacked up within minutes of us getting here,” said fire Lt. Laurent Picard. “”They had the cab jacked up and ready to extricate the patient.”
PF&R used cribbing to support the cab and keep it from shifting on the soft ground while they reached the injured worker.
The whole process took less than 15 minutes, rescuers said.
“Time is of the essence in these things and this was a very smooth operation for what it was,” Picard said.
A spokesman for Skanska, the general contracting company in charge of the hospital expansion, said the company is investigating the accident and they do not have any more information to release at this time. The spokesman also said that safety is a priority for Skanska and accidents such as this rarely happen.
PF&R said the victim was taken to a trauma center with serious injuries. No one else was injured.
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