When Eden Prairie emergency responders rushed to the scene of a construction accident last Thursday, they were not without help. That included access to highly trained personnel from a number of agencies in the metro.

Such access can make the difference in an accident as precarious as the one that happened on Picha Place at around 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

Police responded to a scene in which a construction worker, 34-year-old Christopher Scott Coppin of Maple Plain, was buried up to his midsection in a mound of dirt. Responders spent the rest of the morning carefully hand-digging Coppin out of the pile. Once freed, he was transferred to a Hennepin County Medical Center ambulance and, as of Monday, was still listed in serious condition. Coppin was conscious during the entire incident.

Assisting Eden Prairie in the rescue was the state’s Structural Collapse Team that included team members from Edina, Minneapolis and Minnetonka. Also assisting were the Bloomington, Minnetonka, Hopkins and Chanhassen fire departments while Savage and Shakopee firefighters provided backup in case any other emergencies cropped up in Eden Prairie.

 “We probably couldn’t have scripted a better outcome and a better coordination between all the responding agencies than what took place out there,” noted Eden Prairie Fire Chief George Esbensen.

According to Esbensen, Coppin had been digging a utility line when the collapse occurred. The opening to the trench likely shifted and pinched Coppin in place, said Esbensen.

Coppin just happened to be toward the street side of that trench “so he escaped getting completely buried and killed,” added Esbensen.

Esbensen noted that in this case, the responders themselves were in a somewhat precarious position: Even though they did shoring (structural support) of the scene “it’s still in an unstable situation there.”

Once they got to the scene, responders had to free Coppin mostly through hand-digging him out.

 “It’s very slow; it’s very methodical.”

Working together

Though many different agencies were involved, they all share some basic principles that enable them to operate “as one giant fire department when we need to,” said Esbensen.

One of the keys to that is communication, he said.

In January Eden Prairie joined up with a new regional radio system. The fact that the city was on that radio system “just made such a difference for communications.”

Esbensen noted that when the state Legislature gets into financial trouble, funding for structural collapse or hazardous materials teams is on the chopping block.

“This just shows that you need those big tool chests to show up,” he said.

It’s not just about the equipment. It’s the ongoing training that those teams have to go through to maintain their skills and to be proficient in the wide range of circumstances that they can get called into, he said.

“Make no mistake about it; this guy’s life was in jeopardy.

“It just shows that regionalization of these kinds of super-skill sets is critical, but funding is what makes the world go round and they’re constantly being strapped for money.”

More photos from the accident scene are below:

Construction accident: Emergency personnel wheel a construction worker to a waiting HCMC ambulance. The 34-year-old man was conscious when freed from the pile of dirt he had been trapped under all morning. Eden Prairie firefighters and police officers responded to the accident at around 8:20 Thursday morning on the 6600 block of Picha Place. There, they found the worker buried up to his midsection under the mound of dirt. 

On the scene

Accident scene