WATCH: Man rescued from Gaithersburg {Maryland} cell tower

[mahatmakanejeeves]

What happens when you're working way up on a 180-foot cell tower and you start to experience hypothermia? This is actually a good training video of how to rescue someone in that situation. I'm sure the worker who got into a jam is a little embarrassed. He's also alive and well.

I'll let WJLA take it away.

Cell phone tower technician Isaac Dupree had only been on the job four months. And on one of the coldest days of the year, he found himself Wednesday in Gaithersburg 180 feet off the ground and in so much trouble he knew he had to call 911 for help.

With a wind chill of about 10 degrees, and at the top of this tower, Dupree's hands went numb. His legs began to cramp up.

Knowing it would be several minutes before the fire department would arrive, Dupree's co-worker Rob Bonsall geared-up and climbed up the tower after him.

Read (and view) more: http://www.wjla.com/articles/2013/01/watch-man-rescued-from-gaithersburg-cell-tower-84385.html

[RC]

1. This man had two problems.

1 - He wasn't dressed warm enough. Why wasn't he dressed warm enough? Because climbing towers is hard work and everything you take with you has weight. Including what you are wearing. He did not take into consideration wind chill when he wasn't climbing.
180 feet? Think of taking the stairs of an 18 story building, carrying stuff. Now think of doing that on a ladder. Your tools. Your replacement parts. Oh, and that metal is cold, so you need 2 pairs of gloves. One for working and another for climbing. (The climbing gloves can fit over your work gloves)

And

2 - He was partly dehydrated. Why? Because he didn't want to take a leak somewhere up there. And you can work up a sweat climbing.

I'm sure this was an education for him. He'll know better next time. His crew mates will make sure of that.
For those that think tower work is easy, find out how much the tower crews charge for changing the light at the top.

[Cirque du So-What]

2. I did work of that sort for awhile

Emissions testing on smokestacks. The money was good, but it was very demanding physically. I can vouch for the dangers on hypothermia associated with jobs of this sort. After working through November and December, I left, having decided that I didn't want to suffer a similar fate as this poor guy. And, yes, you MUST limit your intake of liquids before ascending.