The Williston Park Fire Department Emergency Relief Squad and members of the East Williston Fire Department took top honors at the recent Nassau Regional Emergency Medical Service Council annual awards dinner.
The Williston Park unit was recognized as “Agency of the Year,” with the East Williston department earning honorable mention.
One of East Williston’s emergency medical technicians, 19-year-old firefighter Kevin Cramblitt, was named “EMT of the Year” for saving the life of a young Roslyn Heights man,
Last year the Williston Park department’s Emergency Relief Squad responded to 832 calls, from simple hospital transportation to trauma and cardiac arrest calls.
In one case, a male pedestrian suffered serious trauma from a hit-and-run accident. The Williston Park emergency responders received a departmental commendation for reaching the scene in seven minutes and transporting the victim to North Shore University Hospital.
In another case, the emergency responders treated a female patient who had no pulse and was not breathing when they arrived on the scene. A defibrillator was applied and cardiac pulmonary resuscitation was begun by a department chief and a emergency medical technician at the scene before the rest of the emergency crew arrived and the patient’s pulse was restored on the way to the hospital.
“One of the most rewarding things is when someone is in cardiac arrest and you revive them,” said Jerry Imlauf, first lieutenant of the department Emergency Relief Squad.
Among its other emergency calls last year, Williston Park’s emergency responders dispatched an ambulance to the scene of a school bus accident involving grade school children from the East Williston School District, assisting EMTs from other area departments in helping to treat the children at the scene and releasing them to their parents.
Imlauf said the Williston Park’s emergency medical operation is unique because its responders cover three fire districts, including the Albertson and East Williston fire districts. Three years ago, Imlauf changed membership requirements for the department’s Emergency Relief Squad by not requiring they all be trained as firefighters.
Eight of the ERS unit’s 22 to 24 emergency medical technicians – a high number of EMTs for a 95-member volunteer department – are emergency medical specialists only.
Imlauf said he was seeking to boost the number of department members responding to medical emergencies, particularly in daytime hours, in response to a growing number of calls. He succeeded in that initiative, planting seeds of inspiration that took root as an increasing number of the department’s volunteers went beyond CPR training to be certified as emergency medical technicians.
“A lot of the new people coming in the department want to be involved. The more you have, the better,” said Williston Park emergency medical technician Kristine Alfonzo.
EMT certification is conferred through training at the Nassau County Fire Police Academy, Nassau County EMS Academy and North Shore University Hospital.
At the nearby East Williston Fire Department, Cramblitt had been an emergency medical technician for less than a year when he received a frantic call on his way home from work for lunch on July 2 from a friend in Roslyn Heights last summer. Cramblitt’s friend said another young man along with him for a weekend trip to the East End had turned blue in the car.
Cramblitt’s friend immediately got off the highway and drove to his home in Roslyn Heights, where Cramblitt found the passenger in cardiac arrest on the front lawn. Cramblitt had assisted on emergency calls before, but this was the first time he was acting on his own. He immediately started administering cardiac pulmonary resuscitation.
Recalling the event, Cramblitt said he wasn’t nervous, and simply applied the skills he had learned. He was joined at the scene by fellow East Williston firefighter Kevin O’Donnell, who happened to be passing by at the time.
O’Donnell was selected as runner-up for the “EMT of the Year” honor for the assistance he rendered on that day. They succeeded in restoring the young man’s pulse and he subsequently survived after being taken by ambulance to an area hospital.
“It felt really good,” Cramblitt said the feeling his life-saving efforts gave him.
A short time later, Cramblitt faced with a similar situation with an elderly man on a golf course, but the man didn’t survive.
Captain Thomas Devaney received the “E.M.S. Leadership Award” for his role as the driving force behind the development of the East Williston Fire Department E.M.S. He has encouraged volunteers in the 60-member department to go for certification as emergency medical technicians and one-third of the department’s members now have that certification.
“That’s what made the department stand out,” Devaney said. “That sort of ratio you shouldn’t find in any department in the county.”
Devaney made it a priority to improve the medical training in the department as soon as he joined. He’s one of the instructors who provides first-aid training and every member of the East Williston department is trained in CPR and use of the defibrillator. He said it’s not uncommon to have as many as five EMTs on the scene of an emergency in East Williston.
“We’re neighbors helping neighbors. When you get a call, chances are, it could be a house on your block,” Devaney said.
He said there have been numerous instances in which that training has saved lives over the years. He said the recognition from the county Emergency Medical Service Council made their efforts seem “genuine.”
And he said it’s a particular point of pride to have both neighboring fire departments recognized for their emergency medical initiatives from among all the fire departments in the county.
“To have both departments in this area get recognized is huge,” Devaney said.
