By FireRescue1 staff
NEW YORK — For the first time, FDNY will send an all-women rescue paramedic team to test its skills against other first responders at the JEMS Games, part of the JEMS Conference & Expo, held in conjunction with FDIC, in Indianapolis this week.
The JEMS Games includes three realistic, high-pressure scenarios to test how quickly first responders can assess injuries and provide care. EMS Lt. Allison Shaughnessy and rescue paramedics Monica Lewis, Natalia Alzate and Meagan Valicenti have been preparing for the competition, running through the possible scenarios expected to be thrown at them, reported The New York Daily News.
The preliminary competition begins on Tuesday, and the top three teams will compete for the title on Friday.
All-women teams have previously participated in the JEMS Games, but this is a first for FDNY.
To this point, Lt. Shaughnessy explained, “EMS is about 50/50 females to males and it’s about time females will get the recognition that they can do this job and do it well and put a light on that.”
FDNY Commissioner Laura Kavanagh praised the team, saying they make the department proud every day as they serve New Yorkers: “They are an inspiration to so many other young women who, like them, will one day provide outstanding emergency medical care as paramedics and EMTs. We’re hopeful the skills they have honed on the streets of New York City will lead them to victory at the competition.”