December 27, 2010
An accident in an elevator at SUNY Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, NY has left one woman in critical condition from severe injuries to her leg.
According to myfoxny.com, the incident occurred about 4:45pm on Christmas day when a woman visiting the hospital tried to use the elevator.
As the elevator door closed, it entrapped the leg of the unidentified woman, reported the New York Daily News. The elevator then traveled upward eight floors, dragging the woman’s leg between the elevator car and the shaft, before it stopped and someone called 911.
Firefighters responded and worked for nearly an hour before extracting the woman. She suffered injuries from the middle of her thigh to her foot and it was unclear whether doctors can save the leg.
She was transported to Brooklyn’s Kings County Hospital where she underwent surgery.
The hospital told the Fox news station that there were no previous problems with the elevator.
Data in the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS), maintained by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), shows there were 21,876 injuries related to elevators and other lifts in 2009. While 19,652 of these people injured were treated and released from medical facilities, 2,224 people had injuries severe enough to have required hospitalization or caused death.
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