'Something told me to stop': Mundelein firefighter lauded for saving child's life after crash
A Mundelein firefighter was publicly lauded Monday for saving a young girl's life following a car crash he came across while off duty.
Firefighter-paramedic Dan Buhrmester was given a citation by Fire Chief Bill Lark during the evening's village board meeting. They were joined by Dr. Ben Feinzimer, director of emergency medical services at Highland Park Hospital, who praised Buhrmester for his efforts.
"Without Dan, this girl would have died," Feinzimer said.
Buhrmester rushed to action Sept. 11 while driving home on the Tri-State Tollway near Northbrook during a rainstorm, Lark said.
The three-vehicle crash had just occurred on the southbound side of I-294, south of Dundee Road. Buhrmester, who had just dropped his kids at a party, pulled over to help after seeing a Dodge Durango SUV that had been badly damaged in the collision.
"For whatever reason, something told me to stop," he recalled in a telephone interview Tuesday.
Despite the poor weather, being in civilian clothes and not having any firefighting equipment, Buhrmester hopped the median and assessed the victims. The parents were in shock, and their children were hurt, he said.
One, a 3-year-old girl, had suffered severe injuries and was in cardiac arrest. Buhrmester pulled her out of the SUV and performed CPR with help from a doctor who also stopped to assist.
Other good Samaritans stopped to help the victims, too. Eventually, uniformed police officers and firefighters arrived and took over.
In all, three children from the SUV were hospitalized after the crash. All are expected to survive, Lark told the Daily Herald, "but the recovery will be long."
Buhrmester's parents, Duncan and Ann-Marie Buhrmester, were in the audience Monday for the citation presentation. Buhrmester accepted the award without making any public comments.
Mayor Steve Lentz expressed his appreciation for Buhrmester's actions.
"We couldn't be more proud," Lentz said.
Buhrmester called the crash one of the worst he's seen in his 15-plus years as a firefighter. But he downplayed his role in the rescue.
"It's just one small action in the event that happened that day," he said.