BRAVO Records Pre-Hospital Save

One of the greatest accomplishments an ambulance crew canachieve is bringing someone back to life. When a patient’s heartstops, that person is effectively dead unless that heart can berestarted. A Bravo crew did just that recently with the help ofsome other emergency workers.

Chris Catalano, Vinny MacFalter, Salvatore Brunetto and Jairo Ramoswere on duty and driving along Fort Hamilton Parkway whenbystanders flagged them down near 72nd Street. An elderly woman hadjust been struck by a car and was lying in the middle of thestreet.

The crew determined that the woman was in cardiac arrest and beganCPR immediately. While they were preparing to leave the scene, EMSparamedics joined the Bravo crew and administered advanced lifesupport to the patient.

While on the way to Lutheran Medical Center’s Trauma Unit, thepatient’s pulse returned and, as of the writing of this column,continues to recover from the accident at that hospital.

Catalano has been a member of Bravo since 2005. When asked aboutthe call, Catalano said, I am extremely proud of the crew I workedwith. We worked as a team and got the job done. Everyone on theambulance and the dispatcher (Jacqueline Catalano) did their jobsflawlessly. Everyone had a certain task to do and they did itperfectly.

Congratulations to the crew on a job well done.