Joseph V. Moreno rescued Richard F. Caffrey from electric shock, Englewood, New Jersey, March 23, 1962. Caffrey, 22, tree climber, was working 45 feet above ground on a tree from which the limbs had been removed. Suspended by rope rigging and with his spurs embedded in the tree, Caffrey leaned backward. His neck and shoulders made contact with a power line, which carried 2,400 volts of electricity. As the current was grounded through the wet tree trunk, Caffrey received an electric shock and lost consciousness. He slumped in the rigging with his neck touching the power line and his spurs still embedded in the tree. Moreno, 26, tree climber, ran 75 feet to the tree. He took hold of the rope, which hung from Caffrey’s belt to the ground and by it swung him free of the power line. Although he was not accustomed to climbing without his equipment, Moreno held to the rope and ascended the tree to alongside Caffrey, whose head then was within six inches of the electric line. While other workmen on the ground held the rope, Moreno clamped his arms and legs around the tree and attempted to lower Caffrey by manipulating the sliding knot, which controlled the rigging, but Caffrey’s spurs held him. After freeing Caffrey’s feet, Moreno swung him so that his head was two feet from the electric line. Moreno then transferred his weight to the rigging and tried in vain to lower both himself and Caffrey. Again clinging to the tree, Moreno cut the rope so that the men on the ground were able to lower Caffrey until his clothes became caught on a stump 20 feet above the ground. Moreno climbed down the tree to Caffrey and freed him. After Caffrey had been lowered to the ground, Moreno descended on the rope. Caffrey was hospitalized and recovered within seven weeks.
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