NEW LENOX, Ill. (CBS) — The emergency room at Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox was the scene of a dramatic procedure, as firefighters and medical workers worked to free a man’s hand from a meat grinder.

The call came in to the Orland Fire Protection District on Sunday afternoon:  A middle-aged man at a market had gotten his right hand stuck in a meat grinder.

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Fire Chief Ken Brucki says firefighters worked for a while at the market.  Then they determined they had to do the rest of the work at a hospital.

“They ended up transporting the patient and the machine part to Silver Cross Hospital, where we we able to set up in the decontamination room there to continue the extrication,” Brucki says.

The entire rescue took about an hour.

“They worked desperately because they know time is of the essence,” Brucki says.

He said the victim’s hand was severely damaged, and it was doubtful the fingers could be saved. A condition report on the patient was not available Thursday.