During the past year, natural disasters rippled across the country, from hurricanes in the East to wildfires in the West. These disasters destroyed properties, disrupted essential services and, tragically, resulted in the loss of lives. They also left a trail of shattered and fallen trees in their wake.

These fallen trees had to be cleared from roads, lifted off power and communication lines and extracted from punctured roofs. The tree cleanup efforts required the knowledge, skills and equipment of professional tree crews. They are one of many professionals deployed to cleanup-and-restoration operations following natural disasters.

These are elevated-risk operations for workers whose professions are already at higher risk than the all-industry average of 3.6 fatalities per 100,000 full-time equivalents. The fatality rate for EMTs is estimated to be about 13 fatalities per 100,000 workers annually, while police and firefighters are 14 and 17, respectively. The estimated fatal rate for tree workers ranges from 60 to 105 per 100,000 workers – and that is under normal conditions.

Hazardous conditions
The environment during and following natural disasters is overlaid with an array of hazards. But not all natural disasters carry the same risks to all responders. Hurricanes and wildfires have equal numbers of work-related fatalities. But the work-related fatalities for wildfires are mostly during fire-suppression operations, while tornadoes and hurricane storm-related worker fatal injuries occur during the cleanup and restoration efforts.

Removing fallen or damaged trees is one of the most common cleanup efforts following a natural disaster. These arboricultural operations also account for between a quarter and one half of all the worker-related fatalities following a natural disaster – but not all these fatalities are to professional tree workers.

Many other professionals and even volunteers decide to pick up chain saws and work on limbing and bucking fallen trees or felling standing ones. Skills and personal protective equipment are often lacking. Fatalities during tree removal and dismantling cleanup efforts are mostly from these events (in descending order): struck by a tree or branch, struck by passing traffic and contact with electric current.

Shortly following the disaster (Day 0-1)
There are few fatal injuries to tree workers during a natural disaster. They, like most people, have the common sense to evacuate before or shelter in place during these events. They may be traveling to or setting up while storms are fading but not yet passed. The risks during this phase are unexpected wind gusts causing broken branches or uprooted trees to fall, workers being struck by traffic as they set up their work zones and electrocutions from stepping near or on downed lines.

Nonfatal incidents are caused by these same events. Tree workers have had fingers severed when caught in truck doors that suddenly slammed during strong wind gusts. They also have fallen from the slippery surfaces of aerial-lift cab protectors during rain, resulting in fractured ribs and ankles. Some have suffered electric shock – anywhere from a tingle to burns – but survived the contact.

After the disaster (Days 2-60)
Most of the fatal injuries to tree workers occur during this phase of the cleanup efforts. The midpoint for these injuries is about 30 days following the disaster. Many fatal injuries to tree workers are associated with removing fallen trees supported by power lines, other trees or buildings. This is a high-risk operation where the workers are cutting trees under tension and subject to sudden load shifts.

While electrocutions result from removing fallen trees off power lines, the most common fatal event is a dislodged tree supported by power lines, a building or some other object that snaps while the trunk is being cut. The trunk twists, striking the chain-saw operator. While these are often fatal events, they also result in spinal injuries.

Another common incident is chain-saw operators struck when the root plate of fallen trees quickly stands upright when released from the trunk. Tree workers also are struck by falling branches that break during the storm but remain lodged in the tree canopy.

Struck by traffic while clearing fallen trees from a road is the second most common fatal injury event. Traffic incidents are typically a small percentage of fatal incidents for tree workers, except during storm cleanup.

Traffic starts just as soon as the last raindrop falls. Much of the vehicle traffic is emergency workers on duty; other traffic is homeowners trying to reach family. But some are the annoying “sightseers” out to look at what happened. I was limbing a fallen ash tree during the May 2022 derecho in South Dakota while drivers out with their phone cameras tried squeezing their cars through the barricades as they toured the area. I am sure many other tree workers have experienced similar events.

Electrocutions are the third fatal event. Some electrocutions occur from stepping on or near downed power lines or sloshing through shallow water near downed lines. Downed power lines, no surprise, are a hazard following natural disasters. Tree workers must assume all lines are energized until the utility confirms otherwise. Even then, tree workers must never touch – directly or indirectly – any downed power line.

Trees tangled in power lines are also a common hazard following storms. The greatest of these hazards for aerial-lift operators is electrocution while removing branches now within inches of energized primary lines.

Additional hazards
The severe nonfatal injuries to tree workers during storm cleanup often involve spring poles, which are trees or branches under extreme pressure and tension. These are responsible for numerous injuries to tree workers performing storm cleanup. Fractured jaws, skulls and orbitals are the result of a released branch or stem meeting the face. There are also fingers pinned by snapped branches that result in amputations.

Electrical-shock injuries are also common. These range from pulling a detached branch with a pole saw when it falls on the power line to step-potential injuries from standing near an aerial lift that contacts a power line. These are shocks, not electrocutions. These indirect contacts are such that the injuries are not burns but sometimes ventricular fibrillation – a time when survival is determined by the CPR skills of the crew.

Lingering beyond the disaster (Days 61- 365)
Among professionals, the fatality-rate increase following a natural disaster is small during this timeframe, but fatalities along with hospitalizations and emergency-department visits often are elevated for weeks following a natural disaster. These eventually decline but are replaced by other injuries that linger or appear months later. There can be an increase in sick days and absences during the year following the natural disaster.

Common ergonomic injuries for all professions responding to a natural disaster are the musculoskeletal disorders from the overuse of muscles in awkward positions. There is a doubling of musculoskeletal-disorders reports, especially back injuries, among professionals responding to natural disasters. These may linger for months following the disaster.

Neuropsychiatric disorders increase in workers following a natural disease. Migraines and headaches are common for workers weeks or months after the disaster. Post-traumatic stress disorders, fatigue and burnout increase during the year after a natural disaster. This does not happen to everyone, but for those affected, it may be months after the disaster before symptoms appear.

Preparing and coping
Arboricultural operations following natural disasters can be high-intensity, elevated-risk events. Tree workers perform tasks – removals, for example – under unusual and extreme conditions. These are demanding situations to train for, but crews can be prepared.

One common recommendation for working under these conditions is the buddy system. With the buddy system, workers partner to watch for how well the other is coping with the intensity of the work, the lack of sleep and other stressors.

Natural disasters combine the common hazards all tree workers face but in an elevated-risk environment. This, combined with working long hours under stress, can take a toll during cleanup and even months after the disaster has ended.

Note: In Part 2 of this article, we’ll focus on how the buddy system can be a lifesaver when working disaster response.

Literature
Fayard, GM. 2009. Fatal work injuries involving natural disasters. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness 3(4): 201-204.
Maguire, BJ; Hunting, KL; Smith, GS; Levick, NR. 2002. Occupational fatalities in emergency medical services. Annals of Emergency Medicine 40(6):625-632.
Ochsner, M; Marshall, E; Lefkowtz, D. 2018. Trees down, hazards abound: Observations and lessons from Hurricane Sandy. American Journal of Industrial Medicine 61: 361-371.
Salas, R; Burke, LG; Phelan, J; Wellenius, GA; Oray, EJ; Jha, AK. 2024. Impact of extreme weather events on healthcare utilization and mortality in the United States. Nature Medicine 30: 1118-1126.

John Ball, Ph.D., Board Certified Master Arborist (BCMA), Certified Treecare Safety Professional (CTSP), A-NREMT (Advanced-National Registry of Emergency Medical Technicians), is a professor of forestry at South Dakota State University.