A Brooklyn man, who was on the brink of death a year ago, returned to the scene of his revival to personally thank the crew of paramedics who helped save his life.
Looking fit and sporting a wide smile, Ed Ressler visited the BRAVO Volunteer Ambulance Service headquarters in Bay Ridge with his wife, Lynn, to heap gratitude upon EMS workers Crystal Kalil, Eileen Oldcroft, Craig Wing, Alvin Delgado and Angela Colavito, who responded to a call last June alerting them to the 51-year-old man’s chest pains.
Along the way to Lutheran Medical Center, Ressler lost consciousness, prompting the skilled rescue workers to jump into action and begin CPR with the aid of an Automatic External Defibrillator.
The man regained a pulse but continued to require respiratory assistance, which the crew provided by placing a tube into his lungs to ease his breathing before arriving at the hospital, where he remained in stable condition, and was even paid a visit by some of the paramedics three days into his stay.
The Resslers received a welcome as warm as their appreciation at the BRAVO base, 8507 7th Avenue – home to the state’s largest volunteer ambulance service that serves one community –where EMS workers hailed Ed’s return to health with a ceremony, and were presented with merit pins for their life-saving work..
