PEP, May 2008: HEROES

By ALFREDO ALVARADO

SIX construction workers and a Florida woman were killed and 24 people were injured March 15 when a massive 200-foot tower crane collapsed with a thundering roar and destroyed a four-story townhouse on the East Side of Manhattan.

The death toll could have been higher if not for the heroic efforts of Paramedics Juan Henriquez and Marco Girao. The Local 2507 members spent more than three hours digging by hand through mountains of bricks, wood and pipes to rescue two people.

“We got the call over the radio and it sounded really frantic,” said Girao, who was working with Henriquez at the Belle-vue Hospital ambulance station when the crane collapsed.

Shortly after Paramedics and Firefighters arrived on the East 51st Street scene they heard a cry from beneath the rubble and quickly turned off all their power tools and machinery.

“Because of the way the sound traveled and echoed through the debris, we couldn’t be sure of the survivor’s exact location,” said Henriquez. “All the wreckage was locked together, and it was hard to remove even the smallest piece of debris. If we moved anything the wrong way, the whole pile could have come down.”

After digging for three hours they pulled John Gallego from the debris. Henriquez quickly inserted an intravenous line to administer fluids and medicine to ward off infection.

While the crew dug for Gallego, Girao helped pull out Juan Perez, who had suffered a broken leg and head injuries.

Described by his friends as a hard-working guy, Gallego cares for his late brother’s three young children. A resident of Queens and father of three, Perez was getting ready to open up a nearby bar when the crane collapsed on the building.

For Henriquez, who did volunteer work with the Bedford-Stuyvesant Volunteer Ambulance Corp. in Brooklyn before joining the Fire Dept. of New York, helping people is what it’s all about. “The biggest thing is that you get to know right away when you have helped someone,” said the eight-year veteran.

Despite the danger, Girao is equally passionate about his job. “I love it, this is a great job,” said Girao, who has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and biology. “The training is very good, you get to apply what you learn and you help people.” Like Henriquez, Girao started working as a volunteer with an ambulance service in Tarrytown before he joined the FDNY in 2001.

Before the crane collapse, the construction project had been charged with 11 building code violations classified as hazardous. The building boom in New York City has led to heightened danger and a wave of fatal accidents for construction workers. Six of them — Wayne Bleidner, Clifford Canzona, Brad Cohen, Santino Gallone, Anthony Mazza and Aaron Stephens — lost their lives in the March 15 tragedy.