Sunday, January 31, 1999

Man trapped 6 hours by ditch collapse

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BY RACHEL MELCER
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Rescue worker prepares to help pull Jim Bagwell from trench. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

        GREEN TOWNSHIP — Jim Bagwell refused to panic.

        Even though he was trapped in a 13-foot trench for more than six hours. Even though he was buried up to his neck in wet, heavy soil.

        The 41-year-old Price Hill man kept his cool — and that's what saved his life Saturday, authorities said.

        Mr. Bagwell had volunteered to help a friend, Larry Muenchen, replace the sewer pipe at the home of Mr. Muenchen's daughter and son-in-law near White Oak.

        When he climbed into the pit, Mr. Bagwell made sure the shovel of the rented backhoe was wedged in the trench above his head, as a safety precaution — but the men did not brace or shore up the clay soil walls.

Rescue workers consult a medical team during the rescue. The trench was behind the backhoe. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

        “We were just trying to help (my daughter) out,” Mr. Muenchen said. “Jim's a good guy — always willing to help somebody. I guess sometimes it doesn't pay.”

        Around 10:30 a.m., the earth fell in around Mr. Bagwell so suddenly he couldn't stand up. Seeping water pooled around his legs and the earth around him was cold, about 56 degrees.

Sense of calm
        When it settled, a sense of calm seemed to take over, say those at the scene. Mr. Bagwell looked around, took a deep breath and told his friends to call 911.

        He calmly warned them not to move the backhoe shovel resting above his head, aware that it alone kept the shifting earth at bay.

Bagwell's wife, Glenda, watches from the front porch. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

        He stared down the length of clogged sewer pipe he had planned to replace at 6164 Seiler Drive and waited for help to arrive.

        “I think he knew it was serious. But he knew there was nothing we could do,” said Cherie Ritzie who, with her husband Tony, owns the home.

        Fifty emergency workers — including members of the new Hamilton County Urban Search and Rescue Task Force — rushed to Mr. Bagwell's aid.

"Very lucky person'
        In many ways, they say, the contractor saved himself.

        “He had a great attitude. He was, for quite a time, helping us dig,” said Joe Hagin, Hamilton County's Urban Search and Rescue deputy commissioner. “He was a very lucky person. A trench collapse can kill someone almost instantly.”

INFOGRAPHIC

Map and layout of the yard

        Although he will probably spend a few days at University Hospital, where he was listed in fair condition Saturday night, Mr. Bagwell's wife, Glenda, said she is confident he will recover.

        “I knew he was going to be OK. I have faith in him,” Mrs. Bagwell said.

        Through much of the six-hour ordeal, Mrs. Bagwell peered out of the front door of the Ritzie home. She saw more than two dozen Green Township neighbors crowding around, praying as rescuers struggled to remove the dirt one shovelful at a time.

        Peachie Nagel, who lives across the street from the Ritzies, spent most of the ordeal outside, shivering with her neighbors and keeping an eye on the crisis.

        “Whenever something happens in a neighborhood, you want to see if there is something you can do to help,” she said. “You almost get magnetized. You want to watch and make sure he got out. That's the main thing.”

Bagwell is pulled free. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

In good humor
        Neighbors' spirits were lifted by Mr. Bagwell's own good humor, conveyed to reporters, family and friends by Green Township Fire Department public information officer Mike Nie.

        At 3:45 p.m. — five hours after the rescue effort began — paramedics wanted to start an IV line to keep Mr. Bagwell hydrated. He refused.

        “He said, "You're not sticking me with any needles,'” Mr. Nie said.

        Despite his predicament, Mr. Bagwell took charge from the beginning and never relinquished control.

        When rescuers arrived and lowered an oxygen mask down the trench, he put it on with his one free arm. As they freed his neck and chest, he asked for a blanket on which to rest his head.

        When crews realized they were unable to reach the dirt wedged under the front of his calves, Mr. Bagwell asked for a shovel and helped dig himself out.

        Prompted by medical workers, he admitted to feeling cramped and fatigued. He complained that his legs were growing numb.

The trench where he was trapped. (Craig Ruttle photo) | ZOOM |

Flown to hospital
        Shortly after 4 p.m., the final bit of dirt was scooped from around Mr. Bagwell's legs. A circle of onlookers — roped about 15 yards from the ditch — grew silent as crews lowered down a protective back board and strapped him to it.

        Although Mr. Bagwell appeared healthy, paramedics worried that he might have suffered internal injuries. If that had been the case, the dirt weighing in around him would have kept the injuries in check.

        Paramedics and a University Hospital doctor and nurse monitored Mr. Bagwell for signs of dizziness, nausea or dehydration.

        “The fact that he's so cramped down there and squished, it's what we call "compartment syndrome,'” said Green Township paramedic Terry Tate. “We have to watch, when we take him out, that he doesn't decompress.”

        With a final heave, rescue workers pulled Mr. Bagwell — conscious and covered in dried mud — from the ditch. All along Seiler Drive, neighbors and friends cheered. His wife walked up to the stretcher where he lay and kissed him once. She then allowed herself to cry.

        Mr. Bagwell was taken by ambulance to nearby White Oak Middle School, where he was transported to a waiting helicopter and flown to University Hospital.

        Two hours later, at the hospital's waiting room, Mrs. Bagwell boasted about her husband's toughness and good spirits. Grateful that he emerged without serious injury, she gave credit to those who watched, prayed and helped at the ditch.

        “They were a bunch of people,” she said. “A whole bunch of good people.”

       

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