Miller Place EMT Kyle Reitan has been presented with the Firemen’s Association of the State of New York (FASNY) EMS Provider of the Year Award for his lifesaving response to a motorcycle accident on Yaphank Road in Miller Place last year.
Reitan was presented with this statewide award during the 140th Annual FASNY Convention in Syracuse. The 21-year-old EMT received a medal and plaque on Aug. 15 at the convention, as hundreds of firefighters and EMS providers applauded.
Reitan, who is Lieutenant of the Miller Place Fire Department EMS Corps, had just arrived home on Aug. 22, 2011 when he received two phone calls on his cell phone regarding drive-up reports at the substation of a serious motorcycle accident.
With the report saying the accident was jus down the road from the station with the possibility of a serious injury involved, Reitan decided to respond directly to the scene knowing he could be there in just minutes. He called the substation and told members to respond with the ambulance, and when he arrived at the scene the victim was lying in the middle of the road and he was the first EMT to arrive with no police units yet on scene.
Reitan parked his car across the road with his blue light flashing to prevent any other vehicles from driving through the scene. He donned sterile gloves and his PPE and rushed to the patient's side, who was only being attended to by civilian passer-bys with no EMS training.
With the patient lying unconscious and barely alive, Reitan grabbed necessary medical equipment and after seeing that the patient's airway was compromised, the first thing he did was insert an oropharyngeal airway adjunct. After securing the man's airway, he grabbed a blow-valve mask from his bag and provided manual breaths for the unconscious man.
When a Suffolk County Police officer arrived, Reitan told him to have a helicopter dispatched immediately. Once the MPFD Ambulance arrived, the man was transported to the helicopter landing zone. The flight medic, the Middle Island medic and Reitan continued to care for the man until he was stable enough to transport. He was then placed in the back of the helicopter and flown to Stony Brook University Medical Center where he was immediately given care, reports said.
He is now in his third year as a certified NYS EMT-B. Reitan, a , currently works at WCBS 880 News.
