October 25, 2011
From Herald-Mail.com
Maryland Natural Resources Police are offering safety tips to
hunters following a tree-stand accident last week east of Hancock
that sent a man and woman to the hospital.
Robert D. Funk, 53, and Holly E. Funk, 22, both of Hancock, were
taken to Meritus Medical Center near Hagerstown after the tree stand
they were using became detached from a tree and fell about 13 feet,
according to Natural Resources Police Sgt. Art Windemuth.
The injuries were not life-threatening, Windemuth said. He said
he didn’t know if Robert and Holly Funk were related.
The accident, which occurred off Corner Road, was reported about
6:30 a.m.
Thursday, Windemuth said. The pair was in the tree stand for the
muzzleloading, deer-hunting season, he said.
To help prevent such accidents, Windemuth offered a few safety
precautions for hunters using tree stands, including:
Tree stands constructed with wood should be visually inspected
regularly.
Any old worn components that might give way while a hunter is on it
should be replaced.
Hunters using tree stands are encouraged to wear a fall-restraint
system. A harness in such a system keeps a hunter attached to a
tree, preventing a fall to the ground.
A full-body safety harness is demonstrated in a video on the
Maryland Natural Resources Police’s website at www.dnr.state.md.us/nrp.
Fair Use Notice: This document may contain copyrighted material
whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owners. We believe
that this not-for-profit, educational use on the Web constitutes
a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section
107 of the US Copyright Law). If you wish to use this copyrighted
material for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must
obtain permission from the copyright owner.
