Injured tree worker rescued by Plymouth County Rescue Team

EAST BRIDGEWATER — The Plymouth County Technical Rescue Team and several other emergency responders banded together to rescue an injured tree worker who was hit by a branch, broke his arm and found himself trapped while suspended nearly 50 feet in the air.

Rochester Fire rescuer Ben Ferreira, a member of the Plymouth rescue team, performed the rescue with assistance from the East Bridgewater Police and accompanying emergency departments from across Plymouth County.

Ferreira was a graduate of Bristol County Agriculture High School where he majored in Arbor Culture and he was chosen to climb up the tree to assist the victim due to his knowledge of arborists and their work systems.

Using a pulley system, Ferreira and the team of emergency responders helped lower the tree worker to the ground in a “very slow, controlled manner,” according to Ferreira.

The victim, a 47-year-old Brockton resident, was flown to Tufts Medial Center in Boston following his rescue with non-fatal injuries.

The Plymouth County Rescue Team had not yet practiced for a tree rescue when they got the call for this emergency. Ferreira says that despite the lack of practice, “we made a great rescue in a very timely manner at that.”

The rescue only took 90 minutes from the time he got the call to the completion of the emergency services.