EMS Members Rescue Four from Home Filled with CO

Members of the FDNY’s Emergency Medical Service (EMS) saved the lives of four people on Feb. 7, who were suffering from severe carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning in their Brooklyn home.

“All around, everyone did a great job,” said EMS Lt. Timothy Cusak. “There was great teamwork between fire and EMS members and everything ran smoothly.”

Members were called to a two-story home on Schenectady Avenue at around 9 p.m., with reports of a man in cardiac arrest.

Lt. Cusak, Paramedics James McGuire and Joshua Bucklan, EMTs Lauren Sudsky and Yevgeniy Radzinsky, and the members of Engine 234 arrived at the scene simultaneously.

At the top of the stairs they found three victims, including a woman in her 50s, who was weak and confused; a 17-year-old boy, who was disoriented and on his hands and knees; and a man in his 60s, who was lying unconscious on the floor of a small hallway.

The members said their CO meters immediately alerted them to high levels of the dangerous gas in the home. They added that the residence was cluttered, had no electricity and there was a strong smell of exhaust in the air.

As firefighters began to vent the home, to get fresh air inside, Lt. Cusak and EMT Sudsky began evacuating the patients.

They tried to help the woman to her feet, but she could not support herself to walk, so they assisted her to the door, where another EMS member had brought a chair to carry her to an awaiting ambulance.

At that time a man appeared from a back room. He was the brother of one of the victims, who had come home to find the sickened family and called 9-1-1. He, too, was now feeling dizzy and disoriented, so they helped him outside.

Lt. Cusak said the boy was unable to stand, and was sweating, pale and confused, so he lifted him and carried him to a stretcher outside.

The last patient was in the most serious condition. He was unconscious and only responding to painful stimuli. He was placed on a stretcher inside the home and both EMS and fire personnel helped lift him over the banister and outside to an ambulance.

As fire personnel did a last sweep of the home, to ensure there were no other victims, the EMS members gave the four patients oxygen treatments. As their conditions improved, they told the FDNY members that they were using a gas-powered generator to stay warm in the home, and a window that was venting the fumes had been closed, leading to the build up of the dangerous CO.

The victims were transported to Kings County Hospital and are expected to make a full recovery.

“It was great that we had a good prognosis,” Lt. Cusak said. “Everyone was focused on patient care, protecting the patients and protecting themselves. It’s a pleasure when everything works out like this.”

Learn more about how you can protect your family from CO poisoning.