Next week, the Metropolitan section’s Q. and A. series will feature Syndie Molina, a rescue paramedic at the Fire Department’s Emergency Medical Services Station 4 in Downtown Manhattan.
Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times Syndie MolinaMs. Molina is hazardous material certified and is trained to enter dangerous situations â€" with more than 70 pounds of gear on her back. When the most challenging emergency calls come in, she responds: to a worker on scaffolding who has had a heart attack; to a person pinned under a subway train; to a building or floor collapse. Recently, she was called uptown to help with the rescue of a man trapped in the muck of the Second Avenue subway project, 75 feet underground.
Curious what actually happens when you call 911? What’s in that 70-pound pack? What scares even her? Share your questions in the comments section below. We’ll pass the best on to Ms. Molina, with some of our own, and publish the answers next week. And if there’s another behind-the-scenes job in the city that interests you, let us know, and we’ll keep it in mind for a future interview.
(Last week, the chief of enrollment for city public schools explained how students were placed in gifted and talented programs and matched with high schools. Previously, Jeffrey Tascarella, the general manager of the NoMad, answered questions about how restaurants really work.)
