A pair of Emergency Medical Technicians working for a Brooklyn (part of the FDNY 9-1-1 system response) hospital were robbed at gunpoint as they responded to a bogus 911 call at a NYCHA apartment building, officials and sources said today. The EMTs, a 28-year-old woman and a 46-year-old man, were taking the elevator in a Sackman St. building — part of the Seth Low Houses — near Belmont Ave. in Brownsville after responding to a call about someone having difficulty breathing about 11 p.m. Monday when a man in the elevator with them hit the emergency stop between the 10th and 11th floor, officials said. He then pulled a gun on the two EMTs and demanded their medical bag, cops said. After grabbing the bag, the man turned off the emergency stop and ran out of the elevator at the next floor.
The EMTs’ medical bag was found inside the building a short time later, but their tablets and a radio that linked them to the city’s 911 dispatch system was missing.
No arrests have been made. The gunman was described as Black and wore a black surgical mask and clothes, officials said. Neither EMT was harmed. The two work for Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center in Brooklyn, but also respond to 911 calls that city medics respond to, officials said.
The emergency call that sent them to the Seth Low Houses turned out to be a false alarm, but it was not immediately clear if it was directly linked to the robbery, sources with knowledge of the case said.
A spokeswoman for Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center declined to comment when reached Tuesday. In light of the robbery, the FDNY is telling its EMS members “to practice situational awareness” when responding to emergencies around the city, officials said.