FDNY EMT Lieutenant Raymond Wang, center, returned to The Mount Sinai Hospital on Wednesday, November 27, when his colleague FDNY EMT Liam Glinane, second from right, was discharged.
In a press conference held on Thursday, October 17, New York City Fire Department (FDNY) Commissioner Daniel Nigro stood with New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and shared the details of what he called “an extremely tragic coincidence.” Two emergency medical technicians (EMT), he said, had just suffered unrelated life-threatening medical emergencies at the same location, within minutes of each other.
On that fateful day, Liam Glinane, a 28-year FDNY veteran, was driving an ambulance to the Fire Academy on Randall’s Island when he had a stroke on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and veered off the road, hitting another car. Lieutenant Raymond Wang was dispatched to the scene of the accident, but before he could tend to his colleague, Lt. Wang had an aortic dissection. “This is a tough day for our city and for the FDNY,” said Mayor de Blasio. Lt. Wang was described to be in critical condition; Mr. Glinane was in critical but stable condition.
It was fortunate that when Lt. Wang, a 19-year veteran of the FDNY, took ill, he was on a ride-along with a physician from Elmhurst Hospital. That physician was able to immediately treat the two unconscious paramedics while waiting for backup help. Soon after, Mr. Glinane was rushed to Mount Sinai Queens, which recently had opened its world-class Cerebrovascular Stroke Center featuring specially designed equipment that allows for improved speed and efficiency in stroke diagnosis and treatment. Lt. Wang, who was first taken to Elmhurst Hospital, was transferred to The Mount Sinai Hospital.
Stephen D. Waterford, MD, MS, left, led a team that included Percy Boateng, MD, Assistant Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, in performing life-saving surgery on FDNY EMT Lieutenant Raymond Wang.
After life-saving procedures, Lt. Wang would be released from Mount Sinai 13 days later, surrounded by a cheering crowd of FDNY officials and paramedics, family, friends, and staff who treated him. However, it was not until Wednesday, November 27, that Mr. Glinane would be discharged. Again, the FDNY family, including Lt. Wang, would turn out in force. “I am very happy to come to the hospital and be able to walk with Liam out of the hospital,” said a smiling Lt. Wang—who, himself, also had much reason to rejoice.
Lt. Wang, 47, it turned out, had survived a particularly severe form of aortic dissection—a tear in the aorta next to his heart that had caused a life-threatening decrease in his blood pressure, necessitating emergency heart surgery. Stephen D. Waterford, MD, MS, Assistant Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery, and Director of the Surgical Arrhythmia Program, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, led the team that performed surgery on Lt. Wang. “His lungs and heart were not working, and he had no blood flow to his right leg,” said Dr. Waterford.
Meanwhile, Reade De Leacy, MD, Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery, and Radiology, at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and Director of Cerebrovascular Services at Mount Sinai Queens, removed the blood clot blocking an artery in Mr. Glinane’s brain. “He presented with paralysis of the left side of his body, inability to speak properly, and poor awareness of where he was in space and his location. It was an incredibly serious illness,” Dr. De Leacy recalled.
Mr. Glinane, 63, was later transported to The Mount Sinai Hospital, where he continued his recovery and rehabilitation at the Brain Injury Unit at the Mount Sinai Rehabilitation Center. Under the care of Richard Frieden, MD, Assistant Professor of Rehabilitation Medicine, and a team of therapists—Kristen Eggers, PT; Aura Weltman, OT; and Carly Traiman, SLP—Mr. Glinane recovered physically and cognitively. Finally, on the day before Thanksgiving—41 days after his stroke—Mr. Glinane, serenaded by bagpipes and cheers, and with Lt. Wang at his side, was discharged from Mount Sinai.
As the two FDNY veterans walked out together, Lillian Bonsignore, Chief of FDNY Emergency Medical Services, said, “I would consider this our new FDNY Thanksgiving. We certainly have so much to be thankful for. We almost lost two of our heroes, people who have dedicated their lives to saving other people. Today, we can see that that was given back to them.”
“You’re looking at two of the luckiest New Yorkers in the city right now,” Mr. Glinane told the large crowd of well-wishers standing outside The Mount Sinai Hospital. “This is a total success story, thanks to the staff of the building behind me. They’ve literally made a total difference in my outcome—to the hospital, to how I came in here, to how I’m leaving on my own power with 100 percent functionality.”
Today, Mr. Glinane is close to being fully recovered and, despite a long road of outpatient stroke rehabilitation ahead of him, he says he has every intention of going back to work. “I’ve got the greatest job in the world,” he said. “I’m self-sufficient, I’m not a burden, I’m back in the game. I’ve got another shot at life.”