PEP, November 2006: High-tech training to save lives

By ALFREDO ALVARADO

For Lieutenant Bill Melaragno of the Haz-Tac Unit in the Emergency Medical Service, training 1,400 people in handling toxic spills or biological attacks may be the most important assignment of his 18-year tenure.

Melaragno, a member of Uniformed EMS Officers Local 3621, began his career as an Emergency Medical Technician in the Cumberland Station in Brooklyn and was promoted to Lieutenant in 1995.

With extensive military training in decontamination techniques, he has been responsible for developing and administrating the intensive two-day training sessions that began in September on Randall’s Island for EMTs, Paramedics, Lieutenants and Firefighters.

The sessions include a day of classroom lectures and the next day in the field, wearing respirators and heavy protective suits. Melaragno also lectures on weapons of mass destruction. “Our members know how critical this information is and they all come ready to learn,” he said.

Simulating attacks with deadly biological weapons on city trains packed with rush-hour commuters, he teaches first responders how to remove severely injured victims from the scene, how to operate their required special air purifier respirators, and how to administer nerve gas antidote with a syringe.

Lt. Melaragno was among the first responders from EMS on Sept. 11 at the World Trade Center, where he was responsible for setting up a triage center that treated 40 persons a day. The collapsing towers in Lower Manhattan killed his union brothers, Paramedic Carlos Lillo of Local 2507 and Paramedic Lt. Ricardo Quinn of Local 3621, and others have died since from breathing the site’s toxic dust and fumes.

Sponsored by a grant from the federal Dept. of Homeland Security, the training sessions began in September and are to conclude in December. Since 2001, the Assistance to Firefighters Grant program has provided $2.4 billion to fire departments and first responder organizations for personal protective equipment, response equipment, vehicles, fire prevention and extensive training. Under-Secretary for Preparedness George Foresman said the program “gets critically important resources for equipment and training to America’s first responders.”

“I’m very proud of the dedication and hard work of our members,” said Local 3621 President Tom Eppinger. “And I feel confident that with Bill leading these training sessions, the FDNY/EMS will be better trained and all New Yorkers will be able to feel much safer.”