MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – The Los Angeles Fire Department posted a warning on social media after viewing surveillance video of a South Florida girl falling from her father's motorcycle.
Miami-Dade police Detective Lee Cowart said the girl’s 35-year-old father parked his three-wheeled motorcycle outside a home Wednesday evening in northeast Miami-Dade and went inside to eat dinner.
A few minutes later, someone told him his daughter had taken off on his motorcycle, so he ran after the bike, Cowart said.
The video shows the girl falling off the motorcycle and hitting the concrete curb as the bike speeds out of the frame. The father, who also falls to the ground in the video, can be seen running over to his daughter and picking her up.
But firefighters in Los Angeles are warning the public not to move a child, or anyone for that matter, after a serious accident if at all possible.
Firefighters said, even though it may be hard to resist the urge to scoop them up to comfort them -- don't.
According to LAFD, there's no way to know just how bad the injuries may be and moving the victim could make matters worse, and cause further, life-threatening injuries.
They said the best thing to do is to remain calm, call 911 and try to keep the victim as still as possible.
The girl in Wednesday's incident was airlifted to Joe DiMaggio Children's Hospital in Hollywood, while the father was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.
Yolene Casimir, the girl's grandmother, told Local 10 News that the girl was OK.
A Florida Department of Children and Families spokeswoman said the agency has since opened an investigation into the child's well-being. The spokeswoman said DCF has had no prior history with the family.