Fire and EMS Members Save 16-Year-Old’s Life in the Bronx

Being able to save someone in cardiac arrest is a great reward for all members of the FDNY. It’s even more fulfilling when that person is very young.

That’s just what members of Engine 45 and EMS Station 26 did on Oct. 21, when a 16-year-old went into cardiac arrest in the Bronx.

“This doesn’t happen often,” said Lt. Paul McKie from Engine 45. “It’s so rewarding when we can do something like this. Now a 16-year-old has another day ahead of him.”

At 4:12 p.m. members were called to the corner of Mapes and Tremont Avenues for an unconscious victim.

Since their firehouse was just a few blocks away, members of Engine 45, including Lt. McKie and Firefighters Bill Riccardulli, Joseph Langone, Roy Versey, Rob Cuccio and Joel Van Wieren, were the first on the scene. They saw a large crowd gathering around a young man, who was unconscious. The victim’s friend later said they were walking down the street when the victim grabbed his chest and collapsed.

Firefighters assessed that the victim was not breathing and had no pulse, so they began cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and hooked up a defibrillator.

The defibrillator shocked him once and they continued CPR until EMS members arrived minutes later. Members said he had regained a pulse at that time, but still was not breathing, so he was moved into the ambulance, where Paramedics Gerald Carr and Lynwood Rollins continued working on the young man.

They were able to restore his breathing before transporting him to St. Barnabus Hospital.

“Even though there were so many people around us, everybody there just did their job,” said Lt. McKie, who said this was his third cardiac arrest rescue since joining the Department in 1990. “I was driving home [that night] and thought, ‘Wow, we really made a difference today.’ It’s definitely rewarding.”