A fresh-faced group of FDNY paramedic recruits had a terrifying taste of the real world when one of their classmates suffered a full-on heart attack yesterday.
Around 1:30 p.m., Jeffrey Sanger, 39, complained of chest pains to classmates at the Emergency Medical Service Training Center at Fort Totten in Bayside, Queens.
Suspecting indigestion, he retreated to the locker room.
Sanger's concerned instructors followed close behind, worried his chest pains and indigestion were "classic symptoms of a heart attack," said the lieutenant on duty at the center, Arthur Lester.
Initially, Sanger insisted he was fine and refused treatment. But within 10 minutes, he'd flatlined. EMS instructors sprang into action.
After a few tense moments of CPR and a shock from a defibrillator, the lucky recruit came back to life. "What happened? Where am I?" he said.
Sanger was whisked to Long Island Jewish Hospital, where he's expected to make a full recovery.
"He picked the right time to have it," said Joseph Hudak, one of the instructors. "He's got an angel on his shoulder. He's lucky it happened here."
Around 1:30 p.m., Jeffrey Sanger, 39, complained of chest pains to classmates at the Emergency Medical Service Training Center at Fort Totten in Bayside, Queens.
Suspecting indigestion, he retreated to the locker room.
Sanger's concerned instructors followed close behind, worried his chest pains and indigestion were "classic symptoms of a heart attack," said the lieutenant on duty at the center, Arthur Lester.
Initially, Sanger insisted he was fine and refused treatment. But within 10 minutes, he'd flatlined. EMS instructors sprang into action.
After a few tense moments of CPR and a shock from a defibrillator, the lucky recruit came back to life. "What happened? Where am I?" he said.
Sanger was whisked to Long Island Jewish Hospital, where he's expected to make a full recovery.
"He picked the right time to have it," said Joseph Hudak, one of the instructors. "He's got an angel on his shoulder. He's lucky it happened here."
