Window Washer Rescue - Suspension Trauma

A window washer was rescued from a building on Second Street in Harrisburg. The unidentified man was stuck 80 feet up for about 25 minutes. He's now safely on the ground.

Window washer rescued after dangling from side of building in downtown Harrisburg: A man who slipped in his harness while washing the windows of a building downtown was rescued after dangling over the street for nearly 30 minutes, fire officials said. Newly promoted Harrisburg Deputy Fire Chief Michael Horst said the man was checked by emergency medical personnel at the scene at the Penn National Insurance building on North Second Street. The man was released shortly before 10 a.m., Horst said. Crews used a ladder truck to rescue the man, who was suspended about 70 to 80 feet above the street for roughly 20 minutes after he first slipped, the deputy chief said.

"He was getting ready to change his position on the side of the building and when he did, an automatic safety system kicked in and he was unable to get himself free," Horst said. While the safety harness kept the man from falling, it also put a strain on his legs and waist, meaning crews had to act fast to get him free before medical complications arose, Horst said. "At about 30 minutes his body condition starts to break down from being constrained like that," Horst told reporters.

In spite of Horst's claims that the man was not in any serious danger of falling, onlookers described a frantic scene in the first minutes of the incident. Robert Roth, who was managing the Joe on the Go coffee and snack stand next to the financial building said he first noticed a crowd of people forming a short time before fire crews arrived.

"People were screaming, that's when I came over," Roth said. "He was just sort of hanging there at first, but then he dropped about two stories before he caught himself again ... we all thought he was going to keep falling. It was terrifying." Fire crews had cleared the scene by 10 a.m., and North Second Street was reopened to traffic a short time later.

"He dropped about two stories before he caught himself ... we all thought he was going to keep falling. It was terrifying," - Robert Roth, witness.

Window washer rescued from Harrisburg office building: A window washer was rescued from a Downtown Harrisburg office building this morning. Fire officials said the man was stuck between the fourth and fifth floors of the Penn National Insurance building in the first block of N. 2nd Street. A deputy fire chief on the scene said the man was moving between windows when his safety mechanism became stuck in such a way that it was cutting off blood flow in his leg. The man was stuck for about 25 minutes before firefighters used a ladder to rescue him. The deputy chief said that in another five minutes, the incident could have become fatal due to the loss of blood flow. The window washer was taken to a hospital where he was treated and released

Also see Research on Suspension Trauma for High-Rise Window Cleaners

Suspension from Harness may Cause Death

A Double Helping Of Super

A Squeegee Cleaning Services of Chelsea window washer dressed as Superman flexes for Reginae Bush, 5, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2013, at Children’s of Alabama in Birmingham, Ala. Window washers dressed as Superman, Spider-man, Batman and Captain America scaled down the 15-story hospital building stopping at every floor to see the kids.

Alabama hospital patients greeted by comic heroes (Birmingham, Ala.) - Patients at Children’s of Alabama waved and fist-bumped a few comic book heroes through the hospital’s windowpanes as the characters rappelled down the side of the 15-story building. Employees from Squeegee Cleaning Services of Chelsea dressed up as Superman, Batman, Spiderman and Captain America Tuesday and rappelled down the building to greet children on each floor. The visits were part of the hospital’s “Celebrating Our Heroes” week, which is part of an event at the hospital aimed at raising awareness of childhood cancer and sickle cell.

Some of the patients were dressed up in superhero costumes themselves, donning capes and masked that matched the heroes on the other side of the glass. Squeegee Cleaning Services partnered with Children's of Alabama to do the bi-annual window cleaning for the building, and made it more exciting for the young patients by wearing superhero costumes on the job. 

Superheroes Wash Windows at Geisinger (PLAINS TOWNSHIP) — Some might say that a hospital is full of superheroes, people who save lives and prevent illness. But a few real superheroes visited the children at Geisinger Wyoming Valley near Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday. It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s Superman! He’s working side by side with Spiderman, leaping the side of Geisinger Wyoming Valley near Wilkes-Barre in a single bound. “Today, we have our annual window washing, but with a special twist,” said Geisinger Chief Administrative Officer John Buckley.

The twist is the window washers are actually employees of a window washing company in Harrisburg. But on this day, they are dressed up as superheroes for the kids’ enjoyment. To the youngsters watching from inside, like little Kaylee Law of Jenkins Township, these are real superheroes. “It means the world to me because she gets to see something that she’s never saw up close like that before, so she was really in shock,” said Kaylee’s dad Michael Law.

It’s not just the children who get excited. “The caregiving team really gets a kick out of it themselves. We have a little bit of the debate about whose favorite superhero there is,” said Buckley. Making people happy is a lot to live up to, but not difficult for Spiderman or Superman. After all, with great power, comes great responsibility. “I never even turned around and seen what everyone else looking at us. She had my attention as much as I had her attention I bet,” said window washer Aaron “Superman” Jones. “She seemed so happy. She feels so much better. Since yesterday, she was really sick, and now today she’s more energetic, more active, more happy,” said Law. No doubt thanks to these heroes, who put smiles on faces faster than a speeding bullet.

Legislature Pays Thousands For Window Cleaning

Despite budget woes, legislature pays thousands for window cleaning: Apparently, maintenance crews working for the legislature don't do windows. Taxpayers just spent $10,750 for a company to clean the windows of the House of Representatives at the Capitol complex - an expense officials deemed necessary despite a gaping state-budget hole. "This is not what we had in mind when we asked for a housecleaning," said Eric Epstein, a Harrisburg activist and founder of RockTheCapital.org. "Cleaning bird crap off of windows is not openness and transparency."
However, there's more to the issue than a clear view, said Bob Caton, press secretary to House Speaker Keith McCall (D., Carbon).
Besides cleaning the windows inside and out, the Harrisburg company that does the work, Performance Services Inc., also inspects them - 1,800 in all, many stories high - and treats them against spiders. It will all be done again in the fall for another $10,750, a contract with the House shows. The Senate pays another company $8,500 for similar tasks, but only once a year - bringing the legislature's yearly window-cleaning tab to $30,000. Caton said the House, in an austerity move several years ago, cut down on the window work. It had been done four times annually.
He said that in these tough economic times it might be wise to cut back even more, but not at the expense of the windows. David Spencer, manager of Performance Services, said letting windows go unattended too long can lead to bigger structural expenses. "It's a matter of being penny-wise and pound-foolish," he said. Epstein saw it differently, asking, "Why do legislators need to clean the windows when they work behind closed doors?"