By EMS1 Staff
NEW YORK — The president of an EMS union is asking New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio to do more to protect first responders after a 20-year-old FDNY EMT was viciously attacked.
CBS New York reported that FDNY EMT Nicholas Cody was bitten, beaten and stomped on by Thomas Wright. Cody was treating the emotionally disturbed man in the back of the ambulance when Wright managed to break free from the gurney restraint, biting Cody on the shoulder and knocking him to the ground.
“He’s hurt pretty bad right now. Right now, he doesn’t have any mobility or feeling in his left arm,” Cody’s father, Jeffrey, said.
Cody just started working as an FDNY EMT five weeks ago and his father said his career choice has been a “lifelong dream,” according to the report.
Oren Barzilay, president of EMS Union Local 2507, said Mayor de Blasio “needs to do more to protect the men and women who protect and serve this city.”
“The city is spiraling down to chaos, where there’s no respect for nobody — buckets of water thrown at police officers, assaults on EMTs and paramedics are on a daily basis, assaults on MTA workers are on a daily basis … our city has run down to a point of no return,” Barzilay said.
On Monday, city officials announced a plan to have trained mental health workers join police officers in responding to mental health calls. However, the plan does not assist EMS providers who have to transport patients for treatment.