Understanding confined space rescue: Insights from Waco fire following recent rescue

It was October 22nd and Dylan Karl was on a Tuesday training when Karl got the call about a fall at the West Water Treatment Facility.

"For this particular incident we used what is called a tripod, so it was over the hole and we did all of our rigging and systems off that," Dylan Karl, an engineer at the Waco Fire Department said.

A Waco Water Utilities employee slipped and fell — while working 30-feet underground.

"We had a large amount of people than we typically do on shift that were able to respond to this call," Karl said.

The technique is called a Confined Space Rescue. It's when firefighters put up a large tripod-looking pole while connecting wires and ropes to pull out a neighbor out of a smaller space.

"These instances do occur but they're not as common as our everyday calls, but we call it a high risk, high priority, high reward," Karl said.

But what can we to keep safe from these events happening to us?

Karl told Marc Monroy it's all about "awareness and recognizing your capabilities and the safety factors of whatever it is you may be doing."

While these incidents don't happen often Karl said it's always important to inform yourself in case it does. The employee is still recovering in the hospital.

"I'm very proud of the guys that completed the rescue - they did an excellent job," said Karl.