A man working on a private contracting job in Durham suffered a severe injury when his leg got stuck in an auger inside a dry cement mixing truck.
Durham firefighters responded to the scene on Deer Run Road around 1:45 p.m. on Monday and had to request the New Haven Sponsor Hospital Area Response Physician Team, a surgical team that specializes in difficult extrication rescues, to help get the man’s leg out of the machine.
The man, who in his early twenties, is an employee of Shur-Shot Gunite, a Brookfield company that Agua Pools hired to spray gunite into a pool they were installing at the home, according to State Police.
The crew was pouring concrete into the pool when the accident happened, Assistant Fire Chief David Greenbacker said.
The man climbed into the back of the mixing truck when the dry mix got clogged and his leg became entangled in the auger. according to police.
“Fire crews had to climb into very tight quarters to manually turn the auger in the opposite direction to free the man’s leg from the machine,” Greenbacker said.
Life Flight flew the man to Yale New Haven Hospital. His condition is unknown, but police said his injuries were serious.
Members of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration were called to the scene to investigate.
Source: PJ DeCordova-Boyd, NBC Connecticut