MANCHESTER, NH – Although the details about how and when a woman ended up inside a dumpster at a Beech Hill Drive apartment complex, the bottom line is that she is recovering in a hospital from injuries she sustained in what Manchester Fire Chief Ryan Cashin says was a call like no other they’ve ever received.
Manchester Fire and AMR ambulances responded to 193 Beech Hill Drive just before 1 p.m. for a call reporting a woman was trapped inside a garbage truck compactor on Monday.
A truck driver told rescuers he noticed a woman inside the compactor portion of his truck via a camera that shows the interior. The woman, who was seriously injured, appears to have been dumped into the truck from a dumpster at a previous stop in the same complex, according to Cashin.
The driver of the truck called 911 summoning help to the scene. Manchester Fire brought additional apparatus to set up a “technical rescue” using Rescue 1, Truck 7 and several specially trained firefighters.
According to a narrative from Manchester Fire Battalion Chief Bob Beaudet, upon arrival fire companies were informed a woman was stuck in the rear of a garbage truck after the truck had emptied a dumpster and had reportedly compacted the garbage up to four times.
Contact was made with the woman through a side access panel on the truck. She was standing and talking/yelling but was not alert enough to answer questions.
Firefighters determined the quickest and most direct access could be made through the top of the truck via ground ladders. A firefighter from Rescue 1 and Truck 7 along with an officer from E9 entered the truck and assessed the patient. She was immobilized with c-spine precautions and placed inside a “stokes basket” for protection, with a backboard.
The stokes basket was removed via a four-point harness attached to the underneath of Truck 7’s bucket.
The officer from Rescue 1 and another firefighter from Truck 7 operated the truck via the bucket. Firefighters from other crews assisted atop the garbage truck with equipment and manpower. The patient and patient care was transferred to AMR. Remaining firefighters from Engine 9 assisted AMR with patient care by providing a stretcher, warm blankets and medical equipment. When the woman was removed she was placed on the stretcher and rushed to the Elliot Hospital.
Conditions were slippery due to the overnight snow and snow squalls moving through at the time of the rescue, according to Beaudet. The parking area at the apartment complex had not yet been plowed out. Also, the initial address provided to 911 was incorrect.
Cashin said the woman suffered serious injuries, including broken bones, but that it appears she will recover. As to how she ended up in the dumpster, Cashin said those answers are still coming. He did note that there are several dumpsters within the complex. He could not confirm whether the woman was a resident of the apartment complex.
“I can tell you that she was not an unsheltered individual but as to why she was in there, we don’t know that yet,” Cashin said. He cited HIPAA privacy regulations, adding that stabilizing the woman was the first priority. Getting the rest of the story will come in due time.
Jeffrey Hastings contributed to this report.
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