EMS Uses Special Week For a Memorial Tribute;

'Believe in Us':
EMS Uses Special Week For a Memorial Tribute


As part of National Emergency Medical Service Week, city EMS members held a ceremony May 20 for all members who died in the line of duty at the dedication site for Paramedic Carlos Lillo, who died on 9/11, outside EMS Station 49 in the Astoria section of Queens.

The Chief-Leader/Michael O'Kane FOR THE FALLEN: The Fire Department May 20 held a ceremony for Emergency Medical Service members who were killed in the line of duty as a part of National EMS Week. Laying the wreath by the memorial for Paramedic Carlos Lillo were Emergency Medical Technicians Beth Tichman (left) and Valerie Vera-Tedula.

A Celebration, Too

Capt. Anthony DeGennaro said that while the ceremony was meant to be a public remembrance for the fallen, he wanted it to be a celebration of the work all EMS responders do.

"EMS individuals are quite often the people that are forgotten on the scene of an emergency," Captain DeGennaro said during the ceremony. "We've all been on the scene where as you're leaving the scene, after working very hard trying to save the life of somebody's family member, they turn to the police officers and the firefighters that are leaving and say 'thank you so much' to them, and you never hear that 'thank you' to the [Emergency Medical Technicians] and the Paramedics."

He continued, "When the police and the firefighters leave, the emergency as far as they're concerned is over. When we're taking somebody to the hospital, their family's emergency is really just beginning, because that person still needs to go on and get further emergency care."

EMTs Beth Tichman and Valerie Vera-Tedula, who made headlines for successfully resuscitating a cardiac arrest victim during the Five Borough Bike Race earlier this month, laid the wreath by a tree near the stationhouse.

The Chief-Leader/Michael O'Kane RECOGNITION MATTERS: EMS Chief-in-Charge John Peruggia celebrated the first EMS Week without a Medal Day, as the FDNY has integrated it with the ceremony for firefighters in June. 'It's an opportunity for the Mayor to recognize all the tremendous efforts of the men and women of the Fire Department,' he said.

National EMS Week began May 18, and here it featured the annual Second Chance Breakfast, where cardiac-arrest victims are reunited with the EMS responders who saved them, and a competition on EMS exercises at the Fire Department's headquarters in downtown Brooklyn.

Bigger Venue, Mayoral Presence

While EMS and fire unions blasted the department's decision to dissolve EMS Medal Day during the week-long celebration and integrate it with the annual Firefighter and fire officer Medal Day in June, EMS Chief-in-Charge John Peruggia called it a good idea, citing one notable inequality between the two ceremonies: the Mayor doesn't show up for EMS Medal Day.

"It's an opportunity for the Mayor to recognize all the tremendous efforts of the men and women of the Fire Department, what they do each day for the people in this city," he said.

This year's EMS Week slogan was "Believe in miracles, believe in us."

"We believe that our EMTs and Paramedics are miracle-workers," Chief Peruggia added.

Albany Memorial

EMS Week also featured a memorial May 22 in Albany for Paramedic Deborah Reeve, who died on March 15, 2006 at age 42 from mesothelioma, a deadly cancer her friends and family believe was contracted during her time working at Ground Zero, where many responders, often lacking respirators, were exposed to toxins such as benzene, asbestos and pulverized concrete, in addition to particles of human remains.

"The Air Force Para Rescue Command's motto sums it up: So others may live," said Lieut. Joseph Gasparini in his dedication. "This is the motto of all rescuers everywhere."