It’s not every day you save the life of your co-worker, but that day came for LaGuardia Airport supervisory coordination center officer Ralph Ramos, and he answered the call.
It was a typically busy day in the Coordination Center when one of Ramos’ colleagues stepped out of the room. She usually told Ramos if she was going to be taking a long break, but this time she didn’t do so and after about an hour, Ramos headed to the restroom to see if she was there. He knocked on the door. When there was no answer, he tried opening the door but discovered it was locked. He called her cellphone and heard it ringing behind the locked door.
“When I heard the phone ring, it meant she was in there, and it wasn’t good, because I was knocking on that door pretty hard and was getting no response,” Ramos recalled. “So I busted the door open.”
His colleague was on the floor unconscious. He placed her on her side, cleared out her throat, and dialed 911. Ramos then called Deputy Federal Security Director Matthew McKeon who contacted Program Specialist Lizette Mitchell, a former EMT, and they tended to the woman until paramedics arrived and took her to the hospital.
“He really did save her life,” McKeon said. “It would have ended badly had Ralph not taken the decisive action that he did.”
Ramos’ colleague recovered and returned to work about 10 days later.