A workplace accident in Lake Macquarie today has left a man in hospital and lucky to be alive.
Emergency services were called to the scene on Park Street in Teralba at about 10:15am.
A male, believed to be in his 20s, had been impaled through his left arm by a steel rod.
It was still embedded in the patient’s arm, which was bleeding heavily when help arrived.
NSW Ambulence Inspector Joel De’Zuna said it was a shocking sight.
“Paramedics attended a fairly traumatic scene with a steel rod protruding through both sides of the patient’s arm causing significant bleeding,” he said.
The man was given pain medication, before the delicate task of cutting down the rod could begin.
“We worked with Fire and Rescue NSW to trim the rod and safely prepare the patient for transport,” Inspector De’Zuna said.
The man was then taken by road to the John Hunter Hospital in a stable condition for treatment.
Inspector De’Zuna said it could have been far worse.
“While this was no doubt a painful and traumatic incident, this patient was lucky to avoid a potentially life threatening injury.”