A worker at the Brooklyn Navy Yard died January 24 after falling from a ladder in the hold of a tanker ship in dry dock for repairs. This was the second accidental death this month at the GMD Shipyard.The 36 year old Brooklyn man was ascending a ladder and stepped onto a 5-inch-wide ledge to let another worker pass when he lost his balance, falling backward about 25 feet. Another worker, age 51, at the GMD Shipyard was killed at the shipyard Jan. 6 after being crushed by a 6,000-pound metal plate that fell from a crane.
Firefighters received a call at 10:50 a.m. and found the man with shallow breathing and severe head injuries in the bottom of a 50-foot-deep manhole. Firefighters had to enter the compartment through an 18-inch-diameter trap door wearing oxygen tanks for fear of the fumes from a chemical, styrene, the ship had been carrying.
Rescuers erected a tripod over a larger, adjacent hole, about 2 feet in diameter, on the ship's deck. The rescuers hooked a stretcher to the tripod then raised the man on the stretcher vertically through the hole.
A rescue medic went into the compartment to administer oxygen and found Medina had a weak pulse, but he was in cardiac arrest by the time he was raised to the surface, about 45 minutes later. The man died a short time later.
He is one of many workers who are hired on one-month Many workers frequently step onto the ledge to allow a co-worker to pass them on the ladder but other workers do not consider that maneuver safe.
