FDNY EMS Team Wins Connecticut Regional EMS Competition

(L to R) EMTs Gil Ramos, Ruben Berrios and Joe Fortis
won the 12th Annual Connecticut Regional EMS Competition on March 15.

They may be EMS competition all-stars, but EMTs Joe Fortis, Ruben Berrios and Gil Ramos also are known as gracious winners.

The three men won the 12th Annual Connecticut Regional EMS Competition on March 15, and donated their $750 winnings to the family of EMT Christopher Pierce of Station 49, who was seriously injured in an auto accident while off duty.

“It’s very prestigious, everyone wants to be the top agency in the country,” said Team Leader EMT Fortis. “I’ll ride the wave and use the money for good things.”

The team went up against 12 other BLS teams from the tri-state region, defending the first-place title they earned last year.

The scenario was a multiple shooting, with the four victims including an infant and the shooter. Teams are scored based on their speed and efficiency, and the FDNY team crushed the competition, scoring 291 out of 300 points - their closest competitors scored 76.

“It’s all creative problem solving,” said EMT Ramos. “It’s a game. You do what you can, fix what you find.”

In fact the team attributed their success to their teamwork and creativity. They used nearby chairs to elevate a victim’s legs, asked actors playing police officers in the scenario to help with ventilating a patient and distracted distraught patients with a teddy bear they keep with their gear.

“They liked the way we communicate with one another, we work as one unit,” said EMT Berrios.

EMT Fortis joked, “When you get the doctor stuttering and not able to answer you fast enough, you know you’re doing a right thing.”

They even recognized a flaw in the scenario that organizers were stunned they noticed.

“The sponsors of the event, the Emergency Medical Services Educational Seminar Foundation, commended the FDNY EMS Academy team for their nearly flawless performance,” said Chief of the EMS Academy J.P. Martin. “Competing in New York, Connecticut, Florida, Maryland and Australia, they have been recognized as one of the elite competition teams both nationally and internationally.”

The team members said they did not realize they would receive a monetary reward for the win, but they immediately knew they would use it to help EMT Pierce’s family. At the awards ceremony, EMT Fortis asked the crowd of 2,000 to give a moment of silence for the injured EMS member.

“We don’t need [the money]; it could be put to better use in someone else’s hand,” said EMT Ramos. “We all agreed that it was the right thing to do.”

All three team members are teachers at the FDNY Academy and work shifts out of Jacobi Medical Center. They also teach CPR and EMT classes on their own time in the inner cities.

EMT Fortis said they are already planning another fundraiser for EMT Pierce’s family. Soon they will be teaching a CPR class for inner city children hosted by the New York Nets. He said by teaching the class they will receive tickets to a Nets game, which they will raffle off to raise more money for the injured member.

“EMS is a family and it’s a great feeling to be able to help a brother like this,” EMT Fortis said.

But don’t look for the team on the roster for next year’s Connecticut Regional EMS Competition. They graciously volunteered serve as judges for the competition and teach their skills to others, so in-state teams could reclaim the trophy.