***MEDIA ADVISORY***

FIRE COMMISSIONER CASSANO TO PRESIDE AT GRADUATION CEREMONY FOR 61 PARAMEDICS AND 81 EMERGENCY MEDICAL TECHNICIANS

Fire Commissioner Salvatore J. Cassano will preside over a graduation ceremony for 61 Paramedics and 81 Emergency Medical Technicians at the FDNY Fire Academy on Randall's Island, on Monday, October 1, at 11 a.m.

"Our new Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics are joining a Department which provides the best pre-hospital care found anywhere in the world," Commissioner Cassano said. "FDNY EMS responds to over 1.4 million calls a year, and responds to the most serious medical emergencies faster than ever before. These new graduates will make an immediate impact in the communities they serve and will continue the unmatched level of service FDNY provides and New Yorkers deserve."

Sixteen different languages are spoken by this diverse group of graduates, including Albanian, Cantonese, Creole, Farsi, French, German, Hebrew, Italian, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.

All of the new graduates will be assigned to various units throughout the city.

***Photo Op***

Press Contact: Francis X. Gribbon & Frank Dwyer, (FDNY) (718) 999-2056

http://www.nyc.gov/fdny