SDG&E Injured Workers Incident

[Mike_G_D]

Just heard - doesn't sound like a training excercise - the technician reporting sounded super freaked out - screaming in the mic to the point of not being clear. Dispatcher trying hard to calm him down

Sounds like one tech has broken arm, other one is unconscious, third might be the "freaked out" guy. Ambulance on it's way.

SD RCS TG 1393 SDG&E OPS.

Mods - if this turns out to be a training excercise (pretty realistic one!) feel free to delete.

Sounds like somewhere on or near El Monte Rd in Lakeside (didn't get the cross street.

I apologize if this is a training excercise - most realistic sounding one I've ever heard!

-Mike

 

[KG7PBS]

Well what happened

 

[Mike_G_D]

I wish I knew! I was working at the time so I could not give blow-by-blow accounts/updates but it sounded like the SDG&E helicopter made a few back-and-forth trips up to the mountain (I guess, based on the sound of it) to get the injured techs and bring them down to where the ambulance was supposed to meet them. I listened for related fire traffic as best I could (working so really couldn't fiddle with the radio) but never heard anything. I mostly stayed parked on the SDG&E TG so I wouldn't miss anything. But after about a half hour or so it all just went dead - no more traffic. I had to concentrate on work so I gave up and stopped following on that TG. Nothing after that.

May well have been just a training exercise after all - dang realistic one, though, given how the one guy sounded in the beginning! Hearing that screaming, cussing and yelling and generally freaking out and the responses of the dispatcher was pretty hair raising at the time!

Sorry - wish I knew more! Probably someone will eventually chime in with the real info - I'm thinking I was suckered into a very dramatic and pretty realistic training exercise (I have heard a l lot of these, usually with the FD's and they always announce the start of the drill and ending of it and sometimes at periods in the middle but this is the first SDG&E one I've ever heard - if it was such - and it was the most realistic sounding one I've ever heard! They never announced any "This is a drill." messages either. But this is SDG&E so they do things the way they do them). I didn't try the evening news so I don't know if anything was finally reported about the incident.

-Mike