FDNY EMS Units Save Woman in Brooklyn

EMS members from Station 58 were hailed as heroes on Dec. 1, after they saved the life of a Brooklyn woman in cardiac arrest.

“They did a tremendous job,” EMS Chief Stephen Morelli from Division 3 said. “There’s no doubt she’s alive because of the dedication of these crews.”

At approximately 6 a.m., EMTs Chris Robertson and Thomas Scalla responded to a call from a woman who was experiencing pain and coldness in her legs. She said she received vein surgery on Nov. 30.

After the unit arrived and began their assessment, the patient’s condition worsened and she went into cardiac arrest.

The unit radioed for an Advanced Life Support unit, which would be able to administer medications, began CPR and ventilated the patient. They also hooked up a defibrillator, which did not indicate she needed a shock.

Paramedics Scott Weiner and Israel Knobloch, as well as EMS Condition Boss, Lt. James Becker, quickly arrived, and within five minutes they restored the victim’s pulse and blood pressure.

She was transported to Kings County Hospital. In the ambulance, the EMS units reported she began taking spontaneous respirations.

She was later diagnosed with a pulmonary embolism, during which a blood clot dislodges and enters the heart or lungs.

An emergency room doctor later contacted the EMS station and said that because of the EMS members’ hard work, “instead of going to the morgue, she’ll be released from the hospital within two days.”

Chief Morelli added, “To be released within two days of suffering cardiac arrest is no small feat.”