Phoenixville FD, Other Units Rescue Injured Female
PHOENIXVILLE PA – Personnel from five fire companies, the Chester County Rescue Task Force, and the Phoenixville Police Department responded Thursday (July 30, 2020) at about 2:50 p.m. to a high-angle rescue call on the Schuylkill River near the Black Rock railroad tunnel, after police said a teen-age girl incurred a head injury apparently while attempting to jump into the water.
The victim was identified by police, in a Facebook post, as part of “a group of teenagers (who) decided to cool off at the Schuylkill River.” Officers said it was unclear “if she jumped from the (adjacent railroad) trestle or a nearby rope swing,” but hit her head on nearby rocks during the incident and was “rendered unconscious.”
A Berwyn ambulance (at top), part of the task force, transported the individual to Phoenixville Hospital for treatment, the Phoenixville Fire Department reported; she later was moved to the Paoli Hospital trauma center, police said. Her current status is not known.
The first call for assistance came from Montgomery County emergency dispatchers regarding a “fall injury” in the 500 block of nearby Dayton Street. Dispatchers upgraded the nature of the accident minutes later, after they received more information.
Relying on past experience with similar earlier incidents, “fire crews determined the best method to remove the patient would be by boat,” the fire department’s Facebook post noted. A rescue boat arrived at a site on “on the river bank below the Black Rock Tunnel and train bridge,” it added, and the patient “was packaged in a stokes basket with a float collar and transferred to the boat.”
The rescue took less than a hour, and in addition to police and the task force involved units from the Phoenixville Fire Department, Trappe Fire Company No. 1, Berwyn Fire Company, Lionville Fire Company, and Fame Fire Co. No. 3.
Trespassing on and jumping from the trestle are dangerous and illegal activities, police reminded the public. “Numerous teens were spotted on the trestle and ran when law enforcement approached,” the department wrote. “Please do not go on the trestle. Being arrested is the least of your worries! Waking up in a trauma center or worse is the real concern!”
Photo from the Phoenixville Police Department via Facebook
