Late Monday night in southwest Miami-Dade, overnight construction work turned into a frantic rescue after a water main ruptured and flooded an underground tunnel, leaving a construction worker in critical condition at Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson South. Co-workers hauled the man out of the tunnel and started CPR before first responders arrived. Deputies and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue shut down the area near Southwest 120th Avenue and 220th Street, just off U.S. 1, while investigators moved in.
Police and fire units rushed to the scene after a pipe burst just after 10:20 p.m., sending a surge of water into the tunnel and trapping the worker for several minutes. Detectives told the station that co-workers pulled the man from the flooded passage and called 911. Paramedics took him to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson South in critical condition. As water continued gushing from the ground near a building under construction, deputies kept the scene sealed off, and authorities said the incident remains under investigation, according to WSVN.
Serious injuries and trauma care
Paramedics brought the worker to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson South, which serves as a Level II trauma center for south Miami-Dade. The Ryder Trauma Center page details the hospital’s trauma services and emergency capabilities for critically injured patients who arrive by ground or by air.
Danger below ground
Access wells and underground work sites can become deadly in an instant when pressurized water mains rupture and rapidly fill tight spaces. In February, a contractor in Frisco, Texas, died after a water main rupture flooded an access well where two contractors were working, prompting local and federal safety investigations. That Frisco case is a stark reminder of how fast routine utility work can turn life-threatening, according to reporting by CBS Texas.
What investigators will examine…