35 Rescue Saves the day!!!!!!

This post is a reprint from the FDNY EMS rant board ( though this is definitely not a rant...lol)


Rescue Medics save 14 from CO poisoning
« Thread Started on Dec 11, 2008, 11:53am »

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Rescue Medics Save 14 from CO Poisoning


Rescue Paramedics Brian Frayne and Zarina Ronay of Station 57 saved the lives of 14 people who were ill from carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning in their home on Dec. 8, with the help of their newly issued CO detector tools.

“It was a horrible situation,” said Paramedic Frayne. “But we were able to use our training and our tools to help people when they needed it most.”

At 8:01 a.m. the paramedics were called to 433 Pulaski St. in Brooklyn for an unconscious victim. After walking three steps into the apartment, the paramedics’ new CO detectors sounded the highest possible alarm.

They called for backup and work quickly to vent the first floor apartment and get the five adults and 12-year-old girl out.

“Everyone thought they were fine,” said Paramedic Ronay. “We needed to convince them they needed to leave - don’t grab anything, just come.”

Once they evacuated the family, Paramedic Ronay treated them as Paramedic Frayne ran to the second-floor apartment. When he received no answer, he forced entry and was able to pull another family to a second ambulance that had arrived.

Five children were among those living in the second-floor apartment, including an infant who was “cherry red” from the CO exposure.

Once outside, the grandmother from the first apartment said her son was still inside. So Paramedic Frayne returned to search the apartment.

In a small room under the staircase, Paramedic Frayne found a man sleeping. He tried to wake him, but the man was unconscious from CO, so the paramedic dragged him from the apartment to the street.

Firefighters had arrived at that time and finished the searches. Although they vented the apartment for 10 minutes before fire units arrived, firefighters still were getting CO readings of 500 parts per million (ppm), a dangerously high level (FDNY members consider levels more than 9 ppm dangerous).


Rescue Paramedics Brian Frayne (left) and Zarina Ronay of Station 57.


Paramedic Frayne and Ronay transported the family of five from the first-floor apartment to Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center in Brooklyn.

After arriving at the hospital they also learned a young boy in the family also had been feeling ill that morning, but was sent to school. The paramedics sent an ambulance to pick him up and bring him to the hospital for treatment.

“This would have turned out to be a really bad job later on in the day,” said Paramedic Ronay. “I’m just glad it turned out the way we wanted it to turn out and I hope they’ll all be OK.”

In all, 14 patients were transported to area hospitals. It was determined the high CO levels were caused by a faulty gas burner in the basement.

“The rewards you get on this job are fantastic,” said Paramedic Frayne, who spent 10 years working in retail. “You don’t always get a thank you, but you feel good [after jobs like this one] and it reinsures you that you made the right choice to join EMS. I’ve been with the FDNY for 15 years and I’ve loved every year of it.”

The Department recently received a grant from Homeland Security for the purchase of CO meters for all EMS members.

Learn more about how to keep your home safe from CO poisoning.


Brian and Zarina are on 35R2. Both are excellent medics. I ended up getting assigned to the job after they called for help. In the text it read that there were only 2 pt's,boy,was everyone in for a surprise when they got there. In the end,everything turned out for the good. Job well done to all