“A lot of the times we pick up the phone, we don’t know the outcomes,” said Suffolk FRES dispatcher James Alfano. “So it’s definitely a rewarding feeling knowing that you played a vital part of saving somebody’s life.”
Alfano and Christian Dideriksen were the two Fire, Rescue and Emergency Services members recognized alongside five members from the Suffolk County Police Department in Yaphank on Wednesday, April 16th.
Alfano and Diderikson were commended for talking public callers through CPR and the use of AED over the phone for heart attack and collapse incidents that occurred to men at The Rinx in Hauppauge and on a Bellport Paddle-Up Pickleball Court, respectively.
Others were singled out for recent 911 responses, or simply for years of devotion to coordinating life-saving efforts throughout the greater community.
Various local leaders were on hand to honor the aforementioned heroic individuals, as well as Public Safety Dispatchers Angelina Giovanniello, Dominique Grasso and Colleen Jaen, and Emergency Complaint Operators Richard Carentz and Madeline Hart for their life-saving efforts.
Elected representatives in attendance included Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine, Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina, FRES Commissioner Rudy Sunderman, County Clerk Vincent Puleo, Presiding Officer Kevin McCaffrey and Legislator Trish Bergin.
Amidst April 13-19th also being National Public Safety Telecommunications Week, Romaine thanked all first-responders out of both the Suffolk FRES and Police Department "for their help through perilous times" and in tragedy prevention.
He noted that dispatchers don’t have the easiest job, but it’s a most essential one; one second they can be having their morning cup of coffee—the next they can be tasked to talk someone in dire straits, or perhaps with self-harm intentions back from the brink while sending units to their location with no moment to spare.
“It’s the calming voice of the dispatcher giving instructions that helps save lives,” Romaine said from the FRES headquarters’ control room before the assembled emergency brass and press members alike.
Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina perhaps unintentionally evoked Linda Ronstadt's classic “Long, Long Time” when he said he’s been a cop for exactly that duration. Having been on the other end of “that” radio “many, many times,” it was with great pleasure Catalina rattled off the highlights of those he and his colleagues proudly gathered to honor.
Angelina Giovanniello was on the other end of the line after Officer Brendon Gallagher suffered his widely-reported, near-fatal injuries, the result of his cruiser flipping over while chasing a reckless speedster near exit 55 of the Long Island Expressway.
“The call couldn’t be more complicated,” said Catalina. “Angelina stayed on that call the entire time, directed that response, and ultimately helped in saving Brendon’s life.”