On Aug. 23, 2007, Joe Ferraro went out to mow his lawn.
This is a major undertaking for Ferraro, whose lawn is 55 acres and whose mower is a tractor.
But when Ferraro, 66, of Hillsdale, in Columbia County, hopped off the tractor to take a break, something went horribly wrong.
Ferraro fell to the ground. The tractor hit his body and rolled over him before dragging him through the field. Nobody heard his screams for help.
Minutes later, Ferraro, barely conscious, badly beaten on the ground with several fractures and broken limbs, including his collarbone, ribs, toes, ankles, tibias, collar bone and jaw, thought to do the only thing a person, all alone in a 55-acre field, could do. He called 911.
Somewhere between the dispatcher and the EMS department in Hillsdale, calls were transferred and respondents were assigned to the scene, as Ferraro remained motionless, barely able to blink his eyes. Fourteen minutes later he was rescued, and it was not a Hillsdale EMS responder who saved his life.
They’re my angels, Ferraro said, referring to two flight responders from the Colonie EMS Lifeguard Program who transported Ferraro to safety that summer day. Forty minutes from the time Ferraro was injured by the tractor, he arrived at the door of Albany Medical Center.
`He would have never survived without them,` said his wife, Cindi Ferraro.
`They were able to stabilize me and give me a 5 percent chance of being here today,` said Ferraro at the Thursday, July 24, Town Board meeting, `[It took] 13 surgeons, six procedures and 150 nurses.`
But his rescuers, Paul Toscino and Dennis Wood, did not just drop him off at the door of the hospital. During Ferraro’s stay, they came back to visit him.
`It became so personal when [they] did come to visit my family,` Ferraro said.
In response, Toscino said, `I see as many people as I can catch up on.`
Ferraro was one of many victims who stood before the Colonie Town Board to urge Supervisor Paula Mahan and the board to reconsider the termination of the EMS Lifeguard Air Rescue Program.
More than 20 EMS respondents attended the July 24 meeting holding yellow signs that read, `The Town Board will save lives by saving the flight medic program.`
The program, which involves trained EMS respondents traveling on air rescue missions with state police, has been operating for 15 years under the supervision of EMS Chief Jon Politis.
According to United Public Service Employees Union President Gary Favro, political attacks on Politis are what jeopardize the program’s continuation.
`It’s personal; it’s not business at all,` he said.
The program’s contract with the town ends Sept. 1. The supervisor has decided not to enter into a new contract to continue it at this point, but, Favro said, there is time for the administration to change its mind.
A public hearing on the EMS Lifeguard Air Rescue Program is scheduled for Thursday, Aug. 14, at 7:05 p.m. at Memorial Town Hall.
According to Favro, program participants were requesting that the board delay the Sept. 1 conclusion date because it is too close to the date of the public hearing. He said an extension would allow board members and the supervisor time to make a well-informed decision.
The July 24 meeting was adjourned, however, without the conclusion date being suspended.
After hearing reports that state police have since begun to receive offers from other companies for a flight rescue program, Favro said that no other program is as well-qualified as Colonie’s.
`They’ve got 15 years of experience — they know the system, they know the pilots,` said Favro. `I don’t think the average flight medic knows how to do what they do.`
In addition, Favro said, the Colonie EMS flight respondents have the advantage of having the Albany International Airport right in their own town, giving them a closer proximity in times of emergency.
`Those are real things,` he said. `Those are what you base your decisions on how to put programs into play.`
Favro said he has written letters to Mahan, urging her to extend the contract for the program, or enter a new one, but she has not replied.
At the July 24 meeting, Mahan reiterated that her decision to not continue the contract was `not personal` and that it was made for several reasons, including liability, as far as the danger of the missions, costs to the town and not having the EMS respondents `where we need them the most` ` on the ground.
Favro said none of those reasons hold any water.
`Our people are totally furious,` Favro said.“