A Massachusetts man, who was hired to install Christmas decorations on private property, almost died Wednesday after violently electrocuting himself on a utility pole.
“The victim, a contractor hired by a resident, was installing Christmas lights on a large tree using a stick. It appears that the stick came into contact with or near the main power line of a utility pole,” the Wellesley Police Department said in a statement on Facebook on Thursday, reported by ABC News.
Around 10 a.m. Wednesday, the police received a call about an unconscious man who appeared to be having convulsions and who was no longer breathing after suffering a significant electrical shock – strong enough to put his life in danger, according to authorities.
The dispatcher on the line would then have dictated to the victim’s colleague the first aid measures of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to be administered while waiting for the emergency services to arrive on site, a few minutes later.
When paramedics arrived, they found that the man was “in sudden cardiac arrest,” we can read.
They then attempted to restart his heart several times using an external defibrillator (AED), while other agents ensured the area was secured, since the cause of the shock suffered by the victim was still unknown to them. unknown.
Their efforts would have paid off as the man would have regained his pulse, allowing his transport to Newton Wellesley Hospital, before his transfer to Massachusetts General Hospital, according to the police force.
It is not clear in what condition the victim was Friday morning, while an investigation was opened to shed light on the incident.
While many families will be putting up their Christmas decorations during this first weekend of December, this accident reminds us that we must be careful around a power line, while Hydro-Québec recommends not approaching less than three meters of an electric wire, according to its site.
