Nearby: AB Rescue Help Airlift Injured Boy to Hospital

Story by Stephen Bronner and Jesse Lunin-Pack

Atlantic Beach Rescue on Saturday morning coordinated the airlifting of an 8-year-old boy who had fallen on his head and may have suffered head trauma.

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The boy was playing on a short retaining wall and fell, hitting his head on the concrete sidewalk and losing consciousness, according to AB Rescue members.  

"While the boy was alert upon the arrival of our ambulance, the mechanism of injury coupled with our exam on scene led us to suspect that there was the possibility that he had a serious head injury," said Neil Metz, chief of the Atlantic Beach Rescue. "Out of an abundance of caution, we requested the assistance of the Nassau County Police Aviation Unit to transport the boy to a trauma center by helicopter."

A landing zone was established at the foot of the Atlantic Beach Bridge and the boy was transported without incident.

"The drive to the Nassau University Medical Center — a Level 1 Trauma Center — is 25 to 30 minutes from Atlantic Beach, before you take summer traffic into account" said Rescue Lt. Jesse Lunin-Pack. "We train for these scenarios with the police aviation unit, and we utilize their services a handful of times each year. Flying a patient out cuts the transport time from Atlantic Beach to the hospital down to six or seven minutes. It's a valuable option to have. We of course all wish the boy a speedy recovery."