Public Employee Press

EMS worker slain in Brooklyn

Emergency Medical Technician Kelvin Buggs, a member of Local 2507, was killed off-duty July 3 as he tried to break up a fight involving a friend.

Buggs, 20, and his friends were celebrating their high school reunion in the East New York section of Brooklyn when a fight broke out and spilled into the street. Trying to intervene, Buggs was slashed in the neck and shoulder. EMS coworkers rushed him to Brookdale University Hospital, where he died.

According to his father, Romeo Buggs, Kelvin loved his work and considered being an EMT his dream job. "When he was accepted into the academy, he was ecstatic, he was thrilled," said the proud father, a postal worker in Virginia Beach, Va.

Buggs began working at the Fire Dept. in October 2009 and was stationed at Woodhull Hospital in Brooklyn, where he quickly earned the respect of his more experienced colleagues.

"He was everything we hope for in a young man, he was dedicated to the job and dedicated to his family," said Pat Bahnken, president of Uniformed EMTs and Paramedics Local 2507.

Buggs is survived by his longtime companion Kiana and their 2-year-old daughter, Kyla.