Abstract: At about 11:00 a.m. on January 25, 1990 at a jackknife water well drilling rig on Sherman Island near Isleton, the drilling head struck a hard surface, causing the rod to move upward and the cable to lift off the pulley. Jogging the rods did not succeed in positioning the cable. Employee #1, who had worked only two days as a helper, attempted to pull the cable onto the pulley. When his hands became caught, the operator attempted to move the cable, which only furthered the entrapment. Although Employee #1 asked for 911 emergency assistance, the operator chose to drive a heavy truck to the Lodi Doctor's Hospital, arriving at 12:45 p.m. After treatment for shock, Employee #1 was transferred by ambulance to the Ralph K. Davies Medical Center in San Francisco. He arrived too late to allow microsurgical reattachment of his hands. Employee #1 had requested a flight from Lodi to the hospital in San Francisco.