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Rescuers need 90 minutes to pull out driver pinned by earthmovers

By Times Staff Writer
Published December 8, 2005

TAMPA - A construction worker pinned between two large earthmovers on a site in southeast Hillsborough was flown to Tampa General Hospital following a rescue that required the jaws of life and a trauma surgeon who rushed to the scene, ready to amputate the man's legs if necessary.

Two earthmovers collided at the site off U.S. 39 and State Road 674 in Fort Lonesome shortly before 10 a.m., when Victor Guzman turned his earthmover into the path of the other, said Hillsborough County Fire Rescue spokesman Ray Yeakley.

Guzman, a worker for McDonald Construction, was trapped from the torso down, his legs pinned between the two large vehicles.

Rescue workers arrived at the site, where a dike is being built, five minutes after the 911 call came in, Yeakley said. But once they saw how Guzman was stuck, they called for a heavy rescue crew, a trauma surgeon, and a supply of blood, "not something we do every day," Yeakley said.

"Because of the way he was trapped, one of the options we have to consider is amputating a limb to get him out," Yeakley said.

The surgeon did not have to amputate Guzman's legs, but it took rescue workers an hour and a half to get him out.

"They've got to cut, bend and lift, and we're talking about two very heavy vehicles," Yeakley said.

Guzman was flown to TGH, where doctors operated on him.

"His injuries are definitely life-threatening," Yeakley said.

[Last modified December 8, 2005, 00:49:13]