Psychiatric Technician

Department of Mental Hygiene

3/27/1967

Special Act Award (Gold)

On March 27, 1967, at 6:45 p.m., Psychiatric Technician Harold S. Garcia was walking out of the institute’s entrance when he heard a patient shouting. Looking up through the closing darkness, he saw a frightened young woman clinging to the framework of a temporary construction elevator five stories high. The elevator shaft was about two feet wide and connected to the building by thin, metal braces. Mr. Garcia ran inside the building and went up to the sixth floor where he found a temporary opening to the elevator shaft. He walked across a one and one-half inch metal brace to span the four and one half feet between the shaft and the building and began climbing down to the woman below. She was crying and began threatening to jump. Mr. Garcia stopped several feet above the woman and talked to her until he gained her confidence. He then climbed down and helped her up through the narrow shaft and through the sixth floor opening.