Manchester Firefighters Rescue Woman Trapped Inside Compactor Truck

MANCHESTER, NH — Manchester firefighters and AMR ambulances responded to Beech Hill Drive, an apartment complex in Manchester, for a woman trapped inside a garbage truck compactor on Monday.

The truck driver noticed a woman inside the compactor portion of the truck via a camera that showed the interior. The woman, who was seriously injured, appeared to have been dumped into the truck from a dumpster at a previous stop.

The truck's driver immediately called 911, summoning help to the scene. Manchester Fire brought additional apparatus to set up a “technical rescue.”

Firefighters arrived on the scene and found a female stuck in the rear of a garbage truck after the truck had emptied a dumpster and reportedly compacted the garbage up to 4 times.

Contact was made with the patient through a side access panel. The patient was standing, talking, and yelling but was not alert enough to answer questions, according to Manchester Fire Battalion Chief Bob Beaudet.

Access was made through the top of the truck via ground ladders. A firefighter from Rescue 1 and Truck 7 and the officer from Engine 9 entered the truck and assessed the patient. The patient was immobilized with c-spine precautions and placed inside a stokes basket with a backboard.

The stokes were removed via a 4-point harness attached to the underneath of Truck 7's bucket. The officer from Rescue 1 and other Firefighters from Truck 7 operated the truck via the bucket.

AMR medics waited for the woman to be removed and prepared a stretcher, warm blankets, and medical equipment. When the woman was removed, she was placed on a stretcher and rushed to the Elliot Hospital.

The remaining firefighters from Engine 9 assisted AMR medics with patient care and drove the ambulance to Elliot Hospital.

Chief Ryan Cashin described the injuries as serious injuries, but at this time, she is expected to survive.

Battalion Chief Beaudet said special circumstances existed including difficult access to the victim, only access was through the topside of the truck. Slippery snow squalls moved through, and the parking area was not plowed.

The name and address of the woman are being withheld at this time, according to Beaudet.

The truck driver said if he had not seen her on the camera, the truck would have been compacted several times as the dumpsters in the area were emptied.

Sources indicate the woman was conscious and breathing but not fully alert; she appeared in her 50s.

©Jeffrey Hastings www.frameofmindphoto.com/news