An employee was working on a ship in the Table Bay harbour on top of three stacked containers. The height of each of these containers is approximately three meters, making the three stacked on top of one another a height of nine meters.
It is unclear as to what happened next, but the man fell off the side of the top most container, and was found by ER24 paramedics to be almost lodged between a ledge and the side of the container on one of the narrow walkways between the containers on the ship. He seemed to be in a great deal of pain and was visibly uncomfortable although very much alert, so paramedics gave him pain medication and a mild sedative to take the edge off his pain and to relax his body.
Fire and rescue workers as well as other workers on the ship assisted paramedics with stabilising the man and loading him into a rescue basket. He was then hoisted from the ship onto the Duncan Dock by the crane used to move the containers onto the ship.
The ER24 Discovery Medicopter airlifted the man from the dock to the Life Vicent Palotti hospital to receive further appropriated medical treatment, as he had sustained multiple severe injuries. Paramedics were concerned that his blood pressure was noticeably low and they suspected he had a broken pelvis. His left elbow was also severely broken, where he had sustained a large open wound. He was complaining of severe neck pain, and had multiple cuts and bruises to his head.
Vanessa Jackson
ER24
