Firefighters performed a highly technical rescue of a man who fell and injured himself in the attic of the Hilton Garden Inn on Thursday morning, July 31, the Chesterton Fire Department and Town of Chesterton are reporting.
Just after 10:40 a.m. firefighters responded to the Hilton Garden Inn, 501 Gateway Blvd., after an employee checking for an air leak in the sprinkler’s dry system lost his balance and fell onto his lower back.
A firefighter gained access to the attic through a “scuttle hole” on the east side of the building’s third floor, then wended his way “through a maze of trusses and along the four-foot wide plywood path” to the patient, who was already being treated by an EMT with Northwest Health-Porter, the CFD said.
The patient was conscious and complaining of “severe lower back pain.”
“Firefighters were then presented with two options: Maneuvering the patient—secured on a backboard or a Stokes Basket—some 250 feet back to the scuttle hole, through which it would be extremely difficult to lower him; or else cut a hole in the ceiling of a third-story room located just below the patient and lower him through that in a Kendrick Extrication Device (KED),” a brace specially designed for use in confined spaces, the Town of Chesterton said.
Once inside Room 307, firefighters marked with tape the location in the ceiling where the hole would go, then punched through it with a New York Hook—an instrument resembling a medieval pike staff—and enlarged and cleaned its edges with a Sawzall, the CFD said. Firefighters next worked a KED up through the hole, the patient was strapped to it, and the KED lowered back down by means of an Origin 8 rigging plate, the CFD said.
From Room 307, the patient was moved to an ambulance by EMS and then transported to hospital.
The CFD cleared after 85 minutes at the scene.
“Yesterday we had to remove an employee who was injured while doing work in the attic of the Hilton Garden Inn,” Fire Chief Sean O’Donnell said. “A crew under the command of Lt. Brent Valpatic, Engineer Eric Camel, and Firefighter Ben Hand, along with Northwest Health EMS. They did a great job of coming up with a game plan to remove the injured party. No day is ever the same on this job and no call is routine. The men and women of the CFD and Northwest Health executed flawlessly. It gives me great pleasure anytime I get to give accolades to the men and women of the CFD. As the motto on our patch says, ‘Chesterton Pride.’”
Also involved in the extrication was Chief O’Donnell and Deputy Chief Brandon Smith.