Statewide honor for Lake Zurich Fire Department going above, beyond
The Lake Zurich Fire Department has received a statewide honor for going above the call of duty to help a child whose private ambulance crashed while taking her to a doctor's appointment at a Chicago hospital.
Fire Chief John Malcolm accepted the Illinois Department of Public Health's community service award Monday. The Ron W. Lee M.D. Pediatric Care Award recognizes those dedicated to emergency care for children and has been presented by the state agency since 1999.
"This award is being received by the fire department," Malcolm said. "It includes every member of this department. And it really goes back to community service and customer service."
Dr. Mark Cichon, a Loyola professor who chairs the emergency medicine department, was part of a review panel that decided Lake Zurich's first-responders should be honored. Cichon is an investigator for the Illinois Emergency Medical Services for Children program, which is involved in the award.
Cichon said the 6-year-old girl, who depends on a ventilator, was being taken to Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago when the private critical-care ambulance she was riding in and a car crashed in Lake Zurich on Feb. 4. No one was injured, but the girl needed to get to an appointment to address her chronic condition, Cichon said.
Knowing the damaged ambulance could not continue, Lake Zurich paramedics initially had two options: call for replacement private transportation or take the girl to a hospital closest to the village, Cichon said.
"Neither of these options seemed right to the crew," he said.
Instead, the paramedics received permission from supervisors to make the roughly 80-mile round trip and bring the girl to Lurie Children's Hospital so she could make her appointment.
Cichon said what occurred was unusual for a fire department ambulance crew and "above and beyond their normal duties." He said the positive outcome stemmed from critical decision-making by the ambulance crew and support from department leaders.
Lt. Daren Garcia, Capt. David Pilgard and firefighter-paramedics Steve Norman and Eric Ryan received individual commendations for their actions.
"Thanks to these individuals for making the decision on what was right for that patient, and I'm proud of them," Malcolm said.
Lee, who died in 1998, pushed for creation of the Illinois Emergency Medical Services for Children program. He was director of emergency medicine at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood and served the college as an assistant professor.