Unconscious worker rescued from outside Calgary highrise

Calgary's fire department successfully rescued an unconscious man from a suspended platform outside of a highrise building on Monday.

Crews responded to the911 call at 4:30 p.m., according to an emailed release.

A worker was unconscious on a suspended platform attached to the outside of the fifth floor of a building in the 200 block of Sixth Avenue S.E.

The fire department's technical rescue team secured the man to a stretcher and lowered him using ropes to a more accessible floor, where crews were able to remove him and transfer his care over to Alberta Health Services, with the help of building maintenance workers.

"A rope rescue like this takes hundreds of hours of specialized training and a number of firefighters due to the high risk and complexity of the situation," the Calgary Firefighters Association said on Twitter. "Thankfully all that training ensured this ended safely."

The man has since been taken to hospital and the fire department did not provide an update on his condition.

The rescue caused a minor traffic disruption, the fire department said, but traffic has since returned to normal.