Cowanshannock Man Rescues Trapped Tractor Driver
Rural Valley firefighters assess an orange four-wheel drive tractor after the machine rolled over onto a Plumville man late-Friday afternoon. The driver was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital with several arm fractures, but was conscious and alert according to first responders at the scene following the aid of some local residents.
by Jonathan Weaver
A Cowanshannock Township man was one of many that rescued a man trapped under a running tractor Friday evening.
Matt Goldstrohm, who said he lives about a mile from the incident at 380 White Oak Rd. (T-690) was traveling north on his way to pick up his daughter at his parents’ house when he saw the adult male trapped under a orange four-wheel-drive Kubota B6000.
“I came up the knoll and saw the gentlemen under the tractor,” Goldstrohm said. “We lifted the machine – once we got it shut off and made sure he wasn’t bleeding too bad, we got him out from underneath it and up on the bank.”
Goldstrohm, who was first on-scene and called 9-1-1 about 6:15PM, has also operated equipment along hillside slopes, but has not been injured.
A state Emergency Medical Responder after being medically certified through the emergency response team at Keystone Power Plant, this was Goldstrohm’s third emergency response outside of the plant. He described the other two accidents as minor.
Before emergency responders arrived, Goldstrohm asked the unidentified male basic information, including any medical information paramedics would have asked. The male is reportedly from Plumville.
“That’s one of the first things you want to check: the comprehension of the patient. He was talking; he was looking at me, conversing back-and-forth, so we knew his state of mind was still good,” Goldstrohm said.
Local Resident Josh Rodgers, 20, was also driving along the roadway toward Route 85 and witnessed the accident. He observed the male’s injuries and knew the arm was broken.
The Rural Valley Fire Department coordinated emergency efforts that resulted in a small tractor driver being flown to a Pittsburgh Hospital last Friday evening.
Rural Valley Fire First Assistant Chief Bill Rupert said the unidentified male was conscious and alert thanks to Goldstrohm’s aid before the male was flown to a Pittsburgh hospital for the treatment of multiple compound fractures to the left arm.
“I don’t need any appreciation – that’s just what we’ve been trained to do,” Goldstrohm concluded.
Citizens Ambulance aided the male until he was taken via medical helicopter to UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh
“The individual was mowing along that embankment and it just got too steep, I’m assuming, for the tractor,” Rupert said. “It rolled down that embankment and rolled on top of him.”
Volunteer firefighters were on-scene for about 45 minutes.
It was the fire company’s first tractor rollover of the Summer season.
According to Armstrong 9-1-1 radio traffic, Pennsylvania State Police troopers did not respond since the accident occurred along private property.
Local News | jweaver June 20, 2016
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