New York State Firefighter Recruits Help Save Man's Life During First Few Hours Of Job

Talk about getting right into the job. For a bunch of firefighter recruits, they didn't break in easy.

Four new city firefighters were being credited Wednesday with helping to save a man's life on their first day of work. They had officially started their careers at 8 a.m. and by 1 p.m. hadn't been out on a call.

But that all changed quickly.

It was last Saturday, a warm day for November, and three of the new firefighters were on the job only five hours. They had just eaten their first lunch in the South End firehouse.

Blocks away on Delaware Avenue, a fourth recruit had gone to his first call, an asthma attack. He was back in the paramedic unit at 1 p.m.

At about that same time, a group of friends were playing basketball at the Giffen Elementary School court. Lloyd Johnson was among them.

The 36-year-old Johnson collapsed in full cardiac arrest. His friends panicked but, realizing help was but a block away, ran to the firehouse at South Pearl Street and Morton Avenue.

Inside everyone scrambled and a call went out for a paramedic unit. Three of the recruits were among those pressed into action. At the Delaware Avenue Rescue 9 Unit, the fourth recruit jumped into a truck.

The center overhead doors opened on South Pearl Street and a rig was ready to roll, when a minivan pulled up front. Johnson was in the vehicle.

Johnson was placed on the ground. He had no pulse. Ten men worked to help him and 15 minutes later -- right there on the concrete -- his life was saved.

Now, the veteran firefighters are stepping back and giving the nod to the recruits. They were among 15 who had graduated only 24 hours earlier on Friday, after 12 weeks of basic training.

"I didn't really think," Steve Lucarelli recalled. "I went and grabbed the BLS bag," containing basic life support equipment.

"We intubated him, started giving him oxygen," the 27-year-old Lucarelli added. "A defibrillator was hooked up and that leads you through the whole procedure."

Johnson, who lives on Clinton Avenue, was listed Wednesday in critical condition at Albany Medical Center Hospital's Coronary Care Unit. Attempts to reach his family, who were at his side, were unsuccessful.

In addition to Lucarelli, new firefighters Scott Lynch, George Sokaris and Bob Miller were taking it all in stride. But they were a bit shy about the fanfare.

"You can't have much better experience than that on your first day," Lynch, 26, suggested.

Lynch has advanced paramedic training. The other three have emergency medical technician certification, a requirement for all firefighters.

"Everybody was excellent," said Battalion Chief Mike Burns, who supervised the call.

"It was an adrenaline rush," said Sokaris, 33. In training, they worked on a real patient, "but someone pretending to have symptoms as opposed to really having symptoms," Sokaris said.

Miller was the only one who conceded, "I was nervous I guess. But, I did what we learned in training."

In addition to the recruits, Battalion Chief David Peck, and lieutenants Bill Groat, Ray Kalendek and Bob Smith worked on the patient. Two other firefighters helped, Mike Schepisi and Joe Dale. Dale was standing outside when Johnson's friend ran up.

For just under five minutes, Johnson had no pulse, Burns said. "Successful reversals of cardiac arrests are few and far between," he said.

"And having him delivered to you like that was unusual," Smith added.

It would have taken about one minute to get to the basketball court, valuable time that was instead directed to the patient.

But there was a possible danger. "We could have gone one way, and they could have been coming another way," Burns said. "But (having Johnson brought to them) saved us time, this time."

Deputy Chief Bill Davis agreed. "This all turned out great for this guy. It gave him the best chance for survival."

Davis said a tragic delay could have resulted if the apparatus and the van carrying Johnson went in different directions. In general, he said, it's best to not move the patient.

Once Johnson was stabilized, he was transported by Mohawk Ambulance to Albany Med.

"By the time they got him to the hospital, he had blood pressure and a pulse, which he did not have when they showed up at the firehouse," Davis said.

He praised the recruits. "Not only was it their first day, but their career, and the very first call was this cardiac arrest."

There's a tradition in California firehouses. If a firefighter gets in the newspaper or on TV, he has to buy dinner. There was some joking Wednesday in the South End house about the recruits owing the others.