Brother of slain EMT treated guy who had a gun

A Bronx emergency medical technician who followed in his sister’s footsteps after she was mercilessly killed on the job had his own brush with death after answering what he thought was a routine call.

Joel Rosado joined the FDNY’s Emergency Medical Service two years after his sister, Yadira Arroyo died in 2017 under the wheels of her own ambulance when a deranged man got behind the wheel of the vehicle and ran her down.

Rosado’s scary encounter came on Wednesday afternoon when he and a partner were dispatched to a Hoe Ave. building to see about a man who wasn’t feeling well.

The two EMTs were putting the patient in a lift chair to bring him to the ambulance. But instead of showing gratitude for their help, the patient began asking others in the room for his pistol and reached for a gun that was concealed in a bag, FDNY EMS union officials said.

Rosado, 35, was the one who spotted the handle of the weapon sticking out of the bag, according to his partner.

“He tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Let’s go,’” the partner said in a departmental incident report. “‘He’s got a gun.’ ”

The patient was with two other men who were talking with him in Spanish, said Local 2507 union head Oren Barzilay, who represents city fire inspectors, paramedics and FDNY EMTs. Barzilay said Rosado and his partner left the scene and called police, who found no weapon when they arrived.

There were no arrests.

“If it wasn’t for Joey understanding Spanish and telling him, “Let’s go,” they would have been in grave danger,” Barzilay said. “Joey’s the one who was able to translate what was going on.”

Rosado called the situation he faced “scary,” and added that he is “glad it is being brought to light.” He said EMS crews face many of the same dangers as other uniformed city employees.

“The work is not different,” he said. “We go out there daily to help save lives, and sometimes we get put in situations were our own lives get put in danger. This is why we are fighting for equal pay because we get put in these situations and oftentimes, it’s not talked about as much.”

Barzilay said the threat against Rosado and his partner marked the third time in the past month that an FDNY EMT has been threatened with a gun.

He said 250 EMTs and paramedics have been assaulted in the past year.