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Elk Grove Village Fire Department receives Scene Call of the Year award

Seeing a helicopter land in Elk Grove Village is not an everyday occurrence, but it was a special treat as Flight For Life-McHenry presented the Elk Grove Village Fire Department with its 2016 Scene Call of the Year Award for full-time departments Thursday.

The department was honored for its scene management, teamwork and outside-the-box thinking used in an extrication on May 18, 2016.

At 6:50 a.m., a driver was heading east on Higgins Road before crashing into a tree. The vehicle ended up on its side, wrapped around the trunk. Northwest Central Dispatch service sent the Elk Grove Village Fire Department, the main agency involved, to the scene.

The Arlington Heights Fire Department was also sent, and the two fire departments worked together to get the trapped driver out.

"One team cut from the underside of the car, the other team cut from the top side," said Tammy Chatman, Flight For Life-McHenry professional relations manager. "This took a lot of thinking outside the box because once they saw they couldn't get in through the top or sides of the car, they tried to see what they could do by cutting the floor away and it worked."

The effort took an hour.

A Flight For Life-McHenry helicopter arrived at the scene at 7:41 a.m., and by 8:20 a.m., the driver was airlifted to Advocate Lutheran General in Park Ridge and survived.

Other departments involved were the Illinois State Police, Cook County sheriff's police, Cook County forest preserve police and Elk Grove Village police.

To select the winner, two Flight For Life groups in Wisconsin reviewed the submissions and considered a department's utilization of resources, decision-making, skill usage that goes beyond the call of duty to treat the patient and integration of a helicopter.

"It's a fantastic honor when you consider the magnitude of this incident, from the people who took the call at the 911 center, to the precision work those folks did operating those tools when the patient was in such a confined space, to the scene safety and communications as these folks have all alluded to," Elk Grove Village Fire Chief Richard Mikel said. "There's so many complicated calls that take place in so many areas, and for this organization to select ours when they see these every day is great.

"I couldn't be more proud of the people who did the work that day; I couldn't be more grateful to the elected officials who provide us with the money for the equipment and training, and they all came together nicely today so it means a lot."

The Elk Grove Village Fire Department received a plaque and will be awarded a $500 grant for educational purposes.

Mikel said the department will likely use the money to send someone to a trauma symposium for further education and training on dealing with severe injuries.

  Lt. Roger Ferguson, right, and firefighter Pat McManus describe the crash scene. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
  Participants are recognized as Flight For Life-McHenry Base presents the Elk Grove Village Fire Department with its 23rd Annual Scene Call of the Year Award Thursday for its response to a May 18, 2016 single vehicle accident. Joe Lewnard/jlewnard@dailyherald.com
First responders freed a driver by cutting into the bottom of this vehicle after a crash on May 18, 2016. Submitted by Elk Grove Fire Chief Richard Mikel
The vehicle was headed eastbound on Higgins Road when it crashed into a tree. It wrapped around the tree on its side. Submitted by Elk Grove Village Fire Department Chief Richard Mikel
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