NYPD Blue Cross Elite doc society serves, protects city cops

An NYPD officer needing medical care can call on a SWAT team of the finest doctors in the world.

About 350 of the world's top specialists volunteer for the Society of Honorary Police Surgeons of the City of New York - to consult in person or by phone 24/7.

When Bronx Inspector Raymond Rooney's life hung in the balance after an Aug. 15 car crash in Pennsylvania that killed his wife, a little-known network within the NYPD kicked into high gear.

Rooney, the second-in-command of Bronx detectives, found himself in a small rural hospital. NYPD brass felt local doctors might not have the experience to handle his injuries.

There was no time to lose, so specialists in the society were contacted.

They were on the phone almost immediately with the local doctors, who readily accepted the outside expertise and coordinated with the NYPD's talent.

Although Eli Kleinman, the NYPD's chief supervising surgeon, and NYPD officials declined to discuss Rooney's case because of privacy rules, sources said he was in danger of paralysis if his doctors made even one wrong move.

Doctors considered bringing him back to New York but determined their counterparts in Pennsylvania were on the right track and qualified to do the surgery.

"Most police officers don't know about it [the network] until they find themselves belly up on a gurney," said Kleinman.

"Nobody else has anything like it anywhere else in the world."

The specialists, who consult by phone or, if there's time, travel to the local hospital, are called into action for cops stationed anywhere in the world on NYPD assignments.

They also respond for cops injured while serving in the military and for off-duty officers.

The elite doctors practice all over the US, in Europe and as far away as Afghanistan.

The society sent one of its European-based doctors to treat a cop paralyzed in a sporting accident while on an anti-terrorism assignment in Portugal. It also arranged for an NYPD helicopter to fly home an officer who was shot during a robbery attempt in Florida.

In both cases, a member doctor accompanied the injured officer on the trip back to New York.

"As soon as somebody is brought to the hospital, the command notifies us," Kleinman said.

"One of 30 surgeons or five deputies or myself go evaluate them. Very often, our honorary surgeons are already there. We have airlifted people back three times just this past year."

Society members accept insurance reimbursements, and the NYPD pays their travel expenses.

But any medical procedures they perform that are not covered are done gratis.

To become one of the NYPD's honorary surgeons, doctors have to demonstrate their expertise and an interest in helping the department. They're subject to the same stringent background checks as cops.

They also help with biological-attack preparedness.

kconley@nypost.com