NY Paramedic Night Shift

October 7, 2008, 5:02 pm
Night Shift Medics
By The New York Times

Photograph by Michelle V. Agins/The New York Times

The turning point in the life of Vito Barravecchio, center, came in the summer of 1994, when he was called upon to save the life of an aunt who was suffering from a buildup of fluid in her lungs. The next year he became an emergency medical technician, and later, a paramedic. He has been working the late-night shift at Long Island College Hospital in Brooklyn for six years, and he loves it.

“At night,” said Mr. Barravecchio, 36, “you hardly ever get the nonsense calls you get during the day. Eight out of 10 911 calls are life-threatening situations.” In addition, “Traffic is less hectic and the bosses are sleeping.”

Jeff Spencer, standing, says he decided at age 5 that he wanted to be a paramedic. His inspiration: the television show “Emergency.” At 18, he became a basic emergency medical technician and started working at St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, N.Y. He was on the night shift, and he loved it.
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