Two private contractors who were helping to build a luxury home in Ocean City suffered severe electric shock Monday morning when their ladder touched a power line, authorities said.
Both workers were flown by emergency helicopter from Ocean City Municipal Airport to the trauma center at the Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Burn Center in Philadelphia.
Authorities did not immediately release their condition, but said that paramedics from AtlanticCare responded to the scene and administered “advance life support care” involving a possible traumatic injury.
The Ocean City Fire Department rushed to the scene at 100 Somerset Lane shortly before 9 a.m. following a report of a “possible electrocution and fall from an elevated position.” Fire department responders initially provided treatment before AtlantiCare paramedics administered life support.
The contractors were helping to build an upscale bayfront home on Somerset Lane when a metal ladder used by one of them touched electric lines outside and caused a severe shock, Ocean City Fire Chief Bernard Walker said in a news release.
The other contractor was injured when he touched the ladder while trying to aid his co-worker.
“One of the individuals was initially reportedly electrocuted while a second individual on scene was also injured after reportedly making contact with the ladder in an attempt to assist the first individual,” Walker said in the release.
Authorities did not immediately release the names of the contractors or the company or companies they work for.
Atlantic Electric crews on the scene would not comment on the accident other than to confirm that the workers were not employed by the utility.
Other construction officials at the scene declined to comment. A sign in front of the home indicated that the contractor is the Malvern Development Group Inc. of Malvern, Pa. A call left at the company’s office seeking comment was not immediately returned.
Malvern Development Group, an affiliate of Rabena Brothers Inc., builds custom vacation homes and large-scale projects such as schools, restaurants, apartment complexes and country clubs in the tri-state area, according to the company’s website.
