A day in the life of an NYC real estate executive who volunteers as an EMT: Business Insider
Hero of the Day: Central Park EMT volunteers as coronavirus medic: NY Post
Hero by night: Moonlighting as an EMT on New York City's front lines: CBS News
Central Park Medical Unit gets a big boost from Reisenbach Philanthropies: ABC News
NY Strong: CPMU and the NYC Marathon
by: Corey Feldman
Corey Feldman
As a New Yorker, I have seen the NYC Marathon many times from the comfort of a TV screen, but I had never watched it in person, and certainly not from the finish line. That would change on November 7th, 2021. On that crisp fall morning, though I had an incredible view of the finish line, I was not there as a spectator. As a volunteer EMT with Central Park Medical Unit, though I didn't know it then, I would spend the next 14 hours witnessing some of the most amazing feats of human endurance and resilience I’d ever seen. As a combat veteran, I have seen people push themselves beyond their limits in the pursuit of excellence. But those crossing the finish line of the marathon are, for the most part, not soldiers; they are everyday people who find strength within themselves that lies dormant in all of us, that most of us never get the chance to discover. Half a dozen times, I caught people who did not know they were about to fall as they expanded the final ounce of strength in their bodies and willed themselves across the finish line. I helped several people into wheelchairs who had run 10 miles on a stress fracture in their shins.
If you ever have the chance to stand at the finish line of the NYC marathon, your faith in the power of human resilience will be elevated beyond measure. You will meet people like the woman whose abusive husband shattered her foot and ankle, whose podiatrist told her she would never walk again, crossing the finish line after 26.2 miles. You will meet people like the man who lost 147 pounds to run in the marathon to honor his father who was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. You will meet people like the woman whose brother died of COVID 3 weeks before the race, running in his memory, and people like the woman in her late 60’s who fell and chipped her front teeth halfway into the race and then got up and kept going. You’ll meet ICU nurses who have worked without respite over the past 20 months running in memory of the patients they couldn’t save, and volunteers who show up to help these humans across the finish line.
As a New Yorker, I have reminded myself throughout the year that these are the people I pass every day on the subway. You would never know from looking at them - they bear their burdens with grace and a quiet determination, revealing them only in moments of great emotional intensity. New Yorkers are called tough, and it is often said with a negative connotation. And while toughness can be an acronym for severe, or harsh, it is also the defining characteristic of those who refuse to let their circumstances hold them down, and who risk themselves to protect others.
CPMU Members Timmy Li left and Bernie Mack after finishing the NYC Marathon
Toughness is found in the FDNY firefighter who runs into the burning building to rescue a person he has never met; in the 22-year-old rookie cop who responds to a shots-fired call, not knowing if he will make it home to see his wife that night; in the musician, who once won an Emmy, but now finds himself in a homeless shelter because of drugs and poor decisions earlier in his life, who finds the strength to keep trying; in the ER doctors and nurses, who treated COVID patients without sufficient PPE, knowing they were risking their own lives; in the activist who calls for justice, even as tear gas envelops her face and burns her lungs; in the day laborer, who waits each morning at the corner, hoping he will be selected to do back-breaking work for minimum wage so he can afford to feed his wife and children; in the single mother, who works 3 jobs to put food on the table.
At CPMU, we work for free to give back to the brave men and women who make up the city we are lucky enough to call home. We carry the solemn responsibility of taking care of people during what is, for many, one of the worst days of their lives. Their bravery always inspires me, and never more so than at the finish line of the NYC Marathon.
CPMU EMT Serves on Medical Team at Rio Olympics
CPMU EMT Corey Hamel has returned from a two-week deployment to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as a volunteer on the Field of Play Athletes Medical Team at the 2016 Summer Olympics. In this capacity, Corey worked as a medic at the Canoe Slalom event at Whitewater Stadium and the Cycling BMX event at the X-Park, both part of the Deodoro Olympic Park in Rio.
In order to be chosen as a volunteer Corey participated in a rigorous interview and selection process based on his experience and skill set. As a part of the Rio2016 medical team, Corey provided volunteer emergency medical care to Olympian competitors during these events, all of which were extreme tests of fitness and endurance.
A select 4,000 of the 70,000 volunteers and employees at Rio2016 were medical personnel, consisting of paid and volunteer doctors, physiotherapists, dentists, nurses, pharmacists and technicians. There were 146 advanced life support ambulances throughout the competition and one medevac helicopter specifically for the Deodoro complex due to the high-risk nature of the extreme events at that location.
Dutch Red Cross Bicycle Team Patrols with CPMU
New York, NY May 17th, 2015 – In celebration of both National Bike Month and National EMS Week, the CPMU Bicycle Emergency Bicycle Team (BERT) conducted a joint patrol with the Dutch Red Cross First Aid Bike Team on May 16, 2015 in Central Park. Members of the Dutch Red Cross will participate in the Campagnolo Gran Fondo New York cycling event on May 17, 2015. The CPMU BERT team took this opportunity to share best practices, explain the operations of the unit and the geography of Central Park.
Representing CPMU was EMT Jonathan Ehrlich and EMT Adam Fried. From the Dutch Red Cross was national Bicycle Team Coordinator for the Netherlands, Beach Post Scheveningen Coordinator and Bike4Bike Red Cross Netherlands Gran Fondo New York Team leader Jeroen Veenestra.
The CPMU BERT team is a rapid-response bicycle EMS unit composed of two EMTs on bicycles that are able to deliver rapid lifesaving emergency medical services in New York City’s famous Central Park. CPMU’s Bike EMS teams enable EMTs to quickly reach patients who may be located in an area not accessible by a vehicle. Bikes are also used during special events, quickly getting emergency medical care to patients in need. EMS Bikes are equipped with a basic trauma bag, oxygen, and an Automated External Defibrillator (AED). As Bike EMS teams respond to requests for assistance, a CPMU ambulance is also dispatched so that the patient may be transported to the hospital, if necessary.
The Red Cross First Aid Bike Response Team (Nederlandse Rode Kruis Bike-Platform) is a nationwide program run by the Dutch Red Cross supporting bicycle based first aid teams for special events in the Netherlands.
Outpouring of support after devastating fire destroys CPMU ambulances, support still needed
New York, NY, November 24, 2014 – In the aftermath of a devastating fire that destroyed two-thirds of Central Park Medical Unit’s ambulance fleet, the agency has been the recipient of an outpouring of support from the community.
Within hours of the news of the fire, a Crowdrise fundraising campaign began accepting donations online, aimed at making up the gap between the expected insurance recovery and the actual replacement cost of the vehicles and equipment. By Monday morning–less than 4 days after the fire–the campaign had received over $40,000 from 180 individual donors. This is more than 25% of CPMU’s goal to raise $150,000 — the funding necessary to cover the gap between expected insurance payments and the cost of 2 replacement ambulances. To help CPMU achieve its goal, donate via Crowdrise.
Also within a day of the fire, both the NorthShore-LIJ Health System and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital contacted CPMU with offers to donate loaner ambulances to CPMU. “These tremendous offers of support allow us to get back on our feet quickly while we make more permanent arrangements to replace the custom-built vehicles,” said CPMU President Rafael Castellanos. Castellanos reported that both NorthShore-LIJ and NewYork-Presbyterian are also in the process of re-striping the vehicles to carry CPMU’s name, at no cost to the Medical Unit. “I am simply floored by their generosity.”
CPMU announces Community Service Award
New York, NY October 15, 2014 – Central Park Medical Unit recently announced the creation of a “Community Service Award,” in order to recognize certain CPMU volunteers who have gone above and beyond to provide outstanding service to the Medical Unit and to the community at large. Several local restaurants and retail outlets have partnered with CPMU to act as sponsors for the award. Those interested in sponsoring future awards should contact logistics@cpmu.com.