On Tuesday, June 25th, 2024, an adult male was working in a deep excavation in the rear corner of a backyard at a residential property in the suburb of Hillarys. The excavation had been dug by hand over several days. It is estimated that the size of the excavation was 1.2m x 1.5m x 2.8m deep. At approximately 14:30 hrs a section of the excavation wall collapsed onto the male trapping him in the hole.

The casualty came to rest with his right leg fully extended straight down, buried up to his hip on that side. The left leg was not trapped by sand but caught in an awkward position. The knee was out in front of the casualty, but it was fully bent so that the left foot was under the casualty’s buttocks. The casualty was not able to pull himself free and attempted to dig himself out were causing additional minor collapses.

Upon approach to the repair hole, it was immediately apparent that tension cracks were present on sides Bravo (eastern side) and Delta (western side), along with signs of fretting. Upon arrival of the trench truck, personnel were directed to obtain trench panels and Paratech Acmethread grey struts, low pressure airbags, and to build lip bridges, given the soil conditions and collapse potential, and placed the primary panel set and struts. Once the primary set was in, a paramedic made access to assess the casualty, whilst a second panel set and Paratech grey strut were placed to shore the repair hole on all four sides. Digging was done by hand by USAR technicians, until the arrival of a vacuum truck, and at approximately 1820, almost four hours after the incident occurred, the casualty was lifted out and removed alive and transported to hospital by ambulance, with suspected crush syndrome (in the words of the paramedic, he was “circling the drain”). The casualty survived with no major issues and has since been released from hospital.

People Involved

– Michael Burnes

– Nathan Wilcock

– James Hislop

– Justin Foureur

– Greg Henry

– Jared Millar

– Mat McLaughlin

– Brian Hosking

– Regan Pownall

– Kyle Nelligan

– Travis Eltringham