On Sept. 11, Paramedic Miguel Acevedo raced downtown from his regular lifesaving work in the Bronx to set up a field hospital at the WTC disaster site.

With its sprawling grounds in the Pelham section of the Bronx, Jacobi Hospital looks more like a suburban college campus. But drive past a few buildings and down a hill and suddenly a different reality sets in. Outside a gray one-story building a half-dozen shiny ambulances are lined up, while Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics are busy checking their equipment.

One of those Paramedics, prepared to spring into action at a moment's notice, is Local 2507 member Miguel Acevedo.

Born and raised in the Bronx, Mr. Acevedo has been responding to emergencies around the city since 1993, when he completed his certification requirements at La Guardia College.

"I get to see the results of my work. That's what I like the most about this job," he said after a grueling eight-hour shift. Recently, Mr. Acevedo rushed to the aid of a 68-year-old woman who had stopped breathing. "I gave her CPR and got her breathing again," said the Paramedic, in a tone that said saving lives is all in a day's work for him.

Protecting New Yorkers
For these crews, difficulty breathing is the most frequent emergency. Sometimes an asthma attack triggers heart problems, and Mr. Acevedo is trained and ready for that in an ambulance equipped with a cardiac monitor and a defibrillator.

On Sept. 11, he was on duty at the World Trade Center for 13 hours. "We set up a hospital and did things like eye washes for the rescue workers," he said. But they handled far fewer injuries than expected, "because so many never came out."

Mr. Acevedo is also a member of the Haz-mat (Hazardous Materials) Tactical Unit that is always ready to protect New Yorkers in biological or chemical attacks. After the anthrax terrorism, he called for "more training and better equipment" in a letter to Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta.

The city's contracting with private ambulance companies upsets Mr. Acevedo, who was a union delegate for two years. "I'm very concerned about the kind of service that people in this community will get," he said, explaining that in paramedic work, any slip in the quality of service can mean the difference between life and death.

"We're ready to go," he said, "And we get the job done."