Firefighters Respond to Man Injured by Woodworking Equipment

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Just after 2:30 p.m. on Monday December 5, 2011, Forest Grove Fire & Rescue responded to the Woodfold Manufacturing Facility to treat an employee who had been injured while operating equipment.

When firefighters arrived at the facility, which is just 2 blocks from their Fire Station, they found that a 33 year old man was operating a straight line rip saw when a piece of wood approximately 1 inch wide by 1/4 inch thick by 2 feet long had come out of his machine and struck him in the front of his lower abdomen.  Paramedics reported that though the man was in extreme pain he was conscious and talking to them, but that it was apparent that the piece of wood had actually broken off inside his body and was close to puncturing through his back.

Due to the severity of the man's injuries, Paramedics quickly requested that a Lifeflight helicopter come to the scene to transport the injured man to a Portland Trauma Center. Lifeflight landed at the nearby Forest Grove School District Office (located at 18th Avenue and A Street), briefly interrupting a physical education class from the Forest Grove Community School that had been using the ball field where the helicopter would end up landing. An ambulance from Metro West brought the injured worker to the waiting Lifeflight helicopter where he was taken to the Trauma Center at Legacy Emmanuel Hospital in Portland for further treatment of his injuries.

Woodfold Manufacturing is a long standing business in downtown Forest Grove, with a history dating back over fifty (50) years, they produce custom made wood folding and accordion doors out of their facility which is located at 1811 18th Avenue.

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Raw video of the Lifeflight helicopter working on this incident is also on our Youtube Channel which can be found here:

http://www.youtube.com/user/ForestGroveFire?feature=guide

Contact Info: PIO David Nemeyer 503.828.7330