Salute To EMS Workers

James Horan of the FDNY EMS Pipes and Drums Corps plays the hymn "Amazing Grace" as the Reverend Juan A. Quevedo-Bosch from the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer offers prayers for fallen FDNY EMS members at a memorial to Paramedic Carlos Lillo in front of the Mount Sinai Hospital of Queens, 25-10 30th Ave., Astoria. The ceremony marked the start of National EMS Week 2008 in Queens.

National EMS Week 2008, an annual week-long series of events designed to promote public safety among all New Yorkers, attract potential EMS recruits and celebrate the life-saving efforts of more than 3,000 members of the FDNY Emergency Medical Service, began in Queens on Tuesday, May 20 at a memorial to Paramedic Carlos Lillo in front of the Mount Sinai Hospital of Queens, 25-10 30th Ave., Astoria. Members of EMS Station 49, led by Captain Anthony J. DeGennaro, held a wreath-laying ceremony honoring Lillo, who died in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, and all other EMTs who have lost their lives protecting and saving the lives of others. The ceremony paid tribute to the loss of Lillo and his colleagues and is a symbol of the sacrifices made by FDNY EMS members and their families every day.

Some 50 people from EMS Station 49, other EMS stations and the local community gathered for the brief ceremony. The Reverend Juan A. Quevedo-Bosch from the Episcopal Church of the Redeemer offered prayers. The wreath was laid by EMTs Beth Tichman and Valerie Vera- Tedula, and dedicated by Lieutenant Joseph Gasparini. James Horan of FDNY EMS Pipes and Drums gave a bagpipe rendition of the hymn "Amazing Grace". A reception at Mount Sinai Queens followed.

EMS Week continues through Saturday, May 24. The largest of the various celebrations planned to mark the occasion in Queens is the annual FDNY EMS Appreciation and Awards Dinner Dance on Wednesday, May 21 at Terrace on the Park, hosted by Mount Sinai Queens. Also on May 21, starting at 8 a.m., the eighth annual EMT/Paramedic Competition/Exhibition pits teams of FDNY emergency medical technicians and paramedics against each other in simulated emergency scenarios at the Metrotech Commons, 9 Metrotech Center, Brooklyn. On Thursday, May 22 at 11 a.m. EMS members will gather to honor fallen FDNY Paramedic Deborah Reeve at Empire State Plaza in Albany for the New York State EMS Memorial Dedication Ceremony.

National EMS Week 2008 kicked off in New York City on Saturday, May 17 at 8 a.m., when EMS members gathered at Station 20 at Jacobi Medical Center in The Bronx for a bike ride to Roanoke, Virginia as part of the Annual National EMS Memorial Weekend Bike Tour. The 2008 bike tour was held in memory of fallen FDNY EMS Lieutenant Brian Ellicott. On Monday, May 19 at 10 a.m. the 14th Annual Second Chance Brunch at the FDNY Fire Academy on Randall's Island reunited survivors of cardiac arrest episodes with the EMS members, firefighters and others who helped give them a second chance at life.

This year's theme for EMS Week is "Your Life is Our Mission".