LIVERMORE FALLS – A man had a hand and portion of his arm amputated Thursday in a saw operation at PalletOne of Maine/Isaacson Lumber Co. on Park Street.
PalletOne Chief Executive Officer Howe Wallace confirmed Friday an employee lost his hand and part of his arm Thursday in an accident. Speaking from corporate headquarters in Bartow, Fla., he said he didn’t have further details.
Wallace said the man, whom he declined to identify, was moved by helicopter to Maine Medical Center in Portland.
Livermore Falls Fire Chief Ken Jones said Friday that firefighters set up a landing zone at the Livermore Falls High School football field for the LifeFlight helicopter after the 3:40 p.m. accident was reported.
The man was treated by NorthStar Emergency Medical Service at Isaacson’s before he was moved by ambulance to the landing zone.
Company officials went to see the injured worker Friday, Wallace said, and he was still in the intensive care unit at the hospital but it was anticipated he would be moved out of the unit by the end of the day.
Wallace said he didn’t believe the amputated portion of the arm could be reattached.
The company is investigating what happened and would do its best to prevent such a “serious accident” from occurring again, he said.
“Obviously, it’s not something that happens too often,” Wallace said. “We haven’t had anything of this scope at all.”
Wallace said the company is “certainly sorry” the employee was injured and will be working with him to do what they can to help him and his recovery.
PalletOne Inc. is America’s largest manufacturer of new pallets and has 12 facilities in eight states and more than 1,000 employees, according to the company’ Web site. The company buys long-length lumber or logs and makes pallets, Wallace said.
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