New EMT Forgets he’s an EMT

A quick trip to McDonald’s turned into an embarrassing incident for a new EMT.

Danny “Galls” Noonan, a new EMT with Gemenon Township Volunteer Fire Department in rural NY, stopped for lunch with friends at a local McDonald’s when another customer standing in line collapsed.  Seeing this, Noonan immediately began yelling for someone to call 911.  Running from the store, he flagged down a passing police officer and directed her to the store, where she began first aid on the stricken customer, who suffered a seizure and is expected to recover fully.

Upon their arrival, one of the ambulance drivers recognized Noonan standing in the crowd, and asked him to assist them, at which time a visibly shaken Noonan began assisting them.

Noonan, who just turned 18, got his EMT card three days prior to the event, after spending 4 years as an Explorer with the local fire department.  Noonan stated “In all my ride time, I never saw anything like this. We mostly went to car crashes and calls that sounded like good trauma; otherwise we sat around the station watching TV a lot.  We always had the paid guys go to the medical calls.  I’ve never actually seen a really sick person”.

When asked why he didn’t immediately step in to assist as an EMT, Noonan sheepishly admitted “I kind of forgot I was one”.

The police officer who assisted remarked “I didn’t realize he was an EMT.  With all of the tools and gear hanging off his belt, I assumed he was putting in cable boxes for Time Warner”.