NY Paramedic`s First Day Proves Heroic

A newly graduated paramedic helped save the life of a 13-year-old Bronx middle-school student yesterday - his first day on the job, authorities said.

Patrick Worms, 39, graduated from his training program Monday.

A day later, he was reporting to EMS station 14 near Lincoln Hospital at 6 a.m.

"Leaving the house this morning I was nervous," Worms admitted.

Six hours into his career, he found himself racing to MS 301 in Melrose, where the girl had collapsed and was barely breathing.

When Worms and his partner, Kevin Mazuzan, also 39, arrived, a nurse and a school-safety aid were administering CPR.

The paramedics quickly discovered the girl's heart was not pumping although it had some electrical function, and she was breathing once every few minutes.

They immediately went to work.

"It was like time stood still," Worms said. "We blocked out everything around us. We were concerned with her."

Worms hooked up an IV that administered drugs to speed her heart.

Mazuzan, a paramedic for 31/2 years, inserted a tube to open an air passage.

Within minutes, they were able to get her heart rate up.

"You could see her chest moving," Worms said.

He had been an emergency medical technician for two years but now, as a paramedic, he has the responsibility of administering lifesaving drugs.

"I have more of a chance of helping people," he said. "I have a better bag of tools."

But he added, "It's on me now. Being the highest medical authority in the street."

The paramedics brought the girl to Lincoln Hospital where she is in critical but stable condition.

"I pray to God she pulls through," said Worms, a father of three.

The newly minted hero modestly called his first day on the job "a little bit interesting," but added his grueling training program paid off.

"Things I didn't know nine months ago that I know now helped me save that girl," he said.