Public Employee Press

Everyday Heroes
No matter the situation, Paramedics are always ready

By ALFREDO ALVARADO

Early Monday morning on July 20, as most New Yorkers were busy preparing for work, Paramedic and Local 2507 member Niall O'Shaughessy was already on the job - literally up to his neck in the treacherous, choppy waters of the Hudson River, attempting to save a young woman who had thrown herself in only minutes before.

"I have no idea why she jumped in," O'Shaugnessy said later. "My concern was to just get her out."

And that's exactly what O'Shaugnessy did.

Stationed in downtown Manhattan near the site where the World Trade Center Twin Towers once stood, O'Shaughessy and his partner, Moses Nelson, received the call for help around 7:30 a.m.

Within minutes the pair arrived on the scene and spotted the woman bobbing in the water hanging onto a life ring thrown to her by employees from the Dept. of Parks & Recreation.

O'Shaugnessy noticed she was struggling to stay afloat when he decided to take off his boots and radio and dive into the river. He reached the young woman just in time and managed to keep her from drowning. The pair was then pulled to shore, and a New York City Fire Dept. (FDNY) ambulance took the woman immediately to Bellevue Hospital in stable condition.

It was the first time O'Shaugnessy had jumped into a body of water to save someone from drowning, but not the first time he's saved a New Yorker's life. Last year, the Local 2507 member jumped onto the train tracks at the 49th Street station in Midtown to save another young woman who had too much to drink and fell in between cars. Well-trained in handling emergency situations in the subway system, O'Shuagnessy quickly contacted Metropolitan Transportation Authority personnel and had the power turned off, and then administered an IV to the young woman.

People falling onto the train tracks is not that rare, especially during the summer.

"People pass out from the heat and fall onto the tracks," O'Shaughnessy said.

On the job since 2006, O'Shaughnessy grew up in Limerick, Ireland, two hours away from Dublin. He always wanted to be a Firefighter or Police Officer in New York City. His first taste of the city was as 17- year-old. He returned to Ireland. He later came back and took the civil service tests and joined the FDNY. "This is where I want to be doing what I want to do," said the proud father of two boys Alex, 8, and Aidan, 5.

There are two young women in New York who are thrilled that O'Shaughnessy has been able to fulfill the dream he had as a boy in Limerick. And New Yorkers should take pride knowing that in an emergency, we can count on a public servant like Paramedic Niall O'Shaughnessy.