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EMTs Andrew Gabor and Claudia Rugel from Station 32 were called to help a man who fell in an apartment in Brooklyn, but they ended up saving the lives of five people - including an infant - from a dangerous carbon monoxide (CO) condition on Sept. 18.
This is what I signed up for when I became an EMT, said EMT Gabor. I m just glad we were able to help.
The EMTs were called to an apartment on Fulton Street at around 10 a.m.
Upon entering the residence, their GasAlert Extreme Carbon Monoxide monitors (a new tool EMS members use to assess CO levels) immediately alerted them to dangerous levels in the home - 150 ppm. EMS members noted that anything over 35 ppm is dangerous.
They found the victim of the fall experiencing symptoms of CO poisoning, including fatigue and confusion. Three other people in the home also were not feeling well, so EMS members evacuated the residence before beginning treatment.
It s nice to have this equipment, because without it, we could have become victims ourselves, EMT Gabor said about the monitors that were given to all FDNY EMS members this summer.
A resident in another apartment also was evacuated and additional units were called to the building. Firefighters noted their monitors read even higher amounts of CO - 300 ppm - on the floor above.
All the victims had high CO levels in their systems and were transported to Brooklyn Hospital in serious, but stable, condition.
They noted that there were no working CO detectors in any of the building s apartments at the time.
If they d had working CO detectors, they would have known about the situation before we got there, said EMS Capt. John Scotch from the Division 3 Command. These devices can end up making a huge difference.
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