South Milwaukee Fire Department Assists in Cudahy Lake Bank Rescue

I am glad this story had a happy ending, and that’s because of people and communities working together.

In this case, it’s the South Milwaukee and Cudahy Fire Departments partnering with the South Milwaukee Yacht Club to get medical care to someone in need, and maybe save a life.

From the South Milwaukee Fire Department …

At approximately 1:50am this morning, SMFD was called upon to assist the Cudahy Fire Department with extricating an adult male patient from the lake bank overlooking Lake Michigan. The patient fell over the edge, eventually ending up towards the bottom of the bank. Due to the mud, brush, and steepness of the lake bank, it was decided that lowering the patient to the beach and placing him in an inflatable raft for transfer onto the SMFD Rescue Boat was the best option. This means of rescue was used successfully last year with another one of their patients.

This time, however, the CFD inflatable raft was deployed from the SM Yacht Club and escorted to the location by the SMFD Rescue Boat, who also had a Cudahy Police Officer and Milwaukee County Sheriff Deputy on board. Once on scene, the CFD raft picked the patient off the beach and brought the patient to the SMFD Rescue Boat. Due to the size of the SMFD Boat, it is unable to get close enough to shore to execute a direct “pick off.”

The SMFD Boat brought the patient back to the SM Yacht Club where he was evaluated by SMFD Paramedics. His injuries were determined to be non-life threatening and he was transported to Froedtert Hospital for further care.