Apprentice flown to hospital after being pinned by elevator at Google data center
By Isaac Nielsen
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COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (Daily Nonpareil) — A contractor’s apprentice was seriously injured Monday evening after becoming trapped beneath an exterior construction elevator at Google’s main data center in Council bluffs.
The Council Bluffs Fire Department responded to Google’s Southlands campus at 10420 Bunge Ave. around 5:08 p.m. Monday.
Fire Marshal Alex Ford told The Nonpareil that the victim’s supervisor called 911 prompting fire and rescue units to be dispatched.
The first arriving fire engine reached the front gate of the campus at 5:16 p.m., but crews did not reach the patient until about 10 minutes later because they were not allowed through the gate.
“There were some communication issues happening down there letting the front gate know that there was a medical emergency,” Ford told The Nonpareil on Tuesday morning.
Ford said the engine made it through the gate at 5:22 p.m., and firefighters reached the victim at 5:26 p.m.
The victim was awake, alert and in significant pain when crews arrived, Ford said. Firefighters were able to extricate him from beneath the elevator in about 10 minutes before flying him on a LifeNet medical helicopter to the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
The total time from the 911 call to the victim arriving at the medical center was just under an hour, Ford said.
Ford confirmed the injured worker was an apprentice working for a contractor at the site.
Ford said the department typically does not experience issues accessing the Google campus during emergency calls.
“Typically, when we go down there, we don’t have this kind of issue,” Ford said. “We typically have an escort waiting to take us right to the patient.”
Ford said the delay may have been caused by a breakdown in communication after the contractor, rather than Google personnel, called 911.
To Ford’s knowledge, Monday’s incident was the first time Council Bluffs Fire Department had experienced a delay getting through the campus gate.
Ford said the department already faces a longer response time to the Southlands campus because of its distance from the station, making it important that crews can access the scene as quickly as possible.
Council Bluffs fire officials are working to set up a meeting with Google to discuss the incident and determine how to prevent similar delays in the future.
The incident remains under investigation. Officials have not released additional details about what caused the elevator accident.
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