Ann Arbor fire crews rappel 30 feet down elevator shaft to rescue trapped hospital worker

ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The Ann Arbor Fire Department rescued a Michigan Medicine employee trapped in an elevator at C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital on Sunday.

According to authorities, the elevator was stuck about 30 feet below the 8th floor. The elevator reportedly doesn’t have access to floors 4 through 8, and its service brake had locked, preventing it from being lowered to the 4th floor without causing damage.

Rather than cut open a hospital wall, which would have caused damage to the building and elevator car, fire crews decided to lower themselves down with ropes to rescue the trapped employee.

After turning off the elevator’s energy systems, firefighters were lowered to the elevator car. They placed the trapped person in a harness and safely raised them to the 8th floor using a mechanical rope system.

The trapped occupant was uninjured and remained calm during the rescue.