Six patients who received life-saving care from the first responders of Northwell Health’s emergency medical services (EMS) came back during EMS Week to personally thank the medical professionals who helped save their lives.
Sam Swartz, who was shocked back to life after his heart stopped while en route to Lenox Health Greenwich Village during a harrowing day in 2018, said during the Northwell Health Second Chance Luncheon on May 22 that he feels “very, very lucky to have had this crew that day” referring to paramedic Sonny Hodge and paramedic Christopher Foote. As he was being wheeled into the cardiac catheterization lab to have a procedure, Swartz said of the paramedics, “I felt like we were all on the same team that day – we were all on team ‘me’ that day.”
Swartz has survived three cardiac events to date.
“One day, I’ll figure out how I survived these events,” he said. “But I know I couldn’t have done it without you.”
The six patients and their family and friends, as well as the emergency medical services providers, gathered at Northwell’s corporate headquarters in New Hyde Park. Twenty-four Northwell first responders were recognized at the luncheon for their efforts to save these patients’ lives. Northwell’s EMS is the largest hospital-based mobile health program in the New York City and Long Island region. More than 800 staff are on this team who respond to more than 180,000 calls each year.
“To save someone’s life is a feeling you can’t describe unless you’ve done it,” noted Alan Schwalberg, vice president of Northwell Health’s Center for Emergency Medical Services (CEMS). “This event is always my favorite one in the year because it allows us to connect with the people we have saved.”
Northwell’s Second Chance Luncheon is named for Dr. Michael Guttenberg, former medical director of Northwell Health’s clinical preparedness and CEMS, who died in 2017 after a nearly five-year fight with pancreatic cancer. Dr. Guttenberg was a first responder who worked at Ground Zero in the weeks after the World Trade Center terror attacks on September 11, 2001.
Submitted by Northwell Health
