Stamford, CT – Stamford Fire Department’s Rescue 1 (R-1) was requested to respond to 1 Hospital Plaza, Stamford Hospital Pediatric Emergency Room, to assist hospital personnel treating a 5-year-old male with a bolt in his hand.  Upon arrival, R-1 crew discovered that the child had threaded a 3/8 inch steel nut onto his right index finger past the knuckle with a screw gun / socket type power tool. Hospital personnel were unsuccessful in removing the nut using traditional methods.  The child was sedated by hospital personnel.  R-1 crew cut the nut using a rotary Dremel tool with an aluminum oxide cut-off wheel.  A metal dipstick was used as a protection backer and saline was irrigated onto the nut to dissipate the heat.  Two cuts were made to spread the nut and it was slid off the child’s finger.  No further trauma was caused during the fire department’s extrication process.

The crew that responded on R-1 were: Firefighter David Williamson, Firefighter James Fountain, Firefighter Sean Kearns, under the command of Captain Paul Newman.

Rescue 1 is a unit of the Stamford Fire Department that provides specialized technical rescue services. Those services include fire & EMS response, high angle rope rescue, SCUBA & water rescue, vehicle extrication, confined space rescue, and trench & building collapse rescue.

Members of the Stamford Fire Department, including Rescue Company  members, received refresher training in this type of rescue technique in September of 2016 when they attended a “Man vs Machine” class.