Helicopter airlifts Manatee County student after a fall on elementary school playground

A playground tumble sent one Manatee County elementary student to the hospital in a medevac helicopter Wednesday afternoon.

Someone at Braden River Elementary School, 6125 River Club Blvd. in Bradenton, called 911 and said a first-grader fell off the school’s monkey bars.

The 6-year-old student fell approximately 10 feet and broke his “right elbow/arm area,” according to audio from the phone call, which the Bradenton Herald obtained through a public records request Thursday.

“You can definitely tell it’s a break,” the caller said, answering questions from an emergency dispatcher.

Manatee County EMS soon decided to call for a medevac, or medical evacuation, Principal Joshua Bennett said in a message to families later that evening.

The school, he said, fell under a temporary shelter-in-place order as the helicopter arrived, limiting movement on the campus.

“This was all done out of an abundance of caution,” the principal continued. “Our thoughts are with the student and family at this time.”

It was not immediately clear how the playground injury turned into a helicopter evacuation. But on Thursday afternoon, Chloe Conboy, the strategic affairs manager for Manatee’s Public Safety Department, offered more insight:

“The decision was made because the patient met trauma alert criteria and needed a pediatric trauma facility,” she said in a prepared statement.

Neither Conboy nor Mike Barber, the school district’s spokesman, would provide further details, citing a federal law limiting the release of private health information.

This story was originally published October 14, 2021 at 3:31 PM.