An EMT from New York City has been suspended for making an unauthorized stop when he tried to save girl from choking on her lunch, according to USA Today.
The EMT, Qwasie Reid, worked for Assist Ambulance in Brooklyn but went out of their vehicle after he was flagged down to respond to the situation. He left a nursing home patient inside the vehicle with his colleague.
"I vowed to save a life, lives, as many as I could. That little girl, Noelia, superceded that gentleman that was in my ambulance that day. And I would never change anything if I had to, never," Reid said, Time Warner Cable News reported.
First grader Noelia Echavarria at P.S. 250 in Williamsburg was already blue when Reid arrived. Noelia, who has been declared brain-dead, is currently on life support and confined at the NYU Langone Medical Center.
"She was blue in the face and lips. No response. Unconscious unresponsive," the suspended EMT said, ABC 7 News reported.
Reid added that the fire department only arrived three to four minutes after he already performed CPR.
"I don't regret it," he said. "I'd do it again. If I know there's a child choking, I'm going to do my best to help her. I made a vow to save a life. If I had to jump out of the ambulance again, I'd do anything. I pray to God she feels better."
Reid, a father of four, has been suspended without pay.
"As an EMT, I don't care about your money," he said, according to DNA Info. "There was a child choking. I'm worried about them firing me, but I did a good deed. I just feel like I'm being penalized for something and I haven't done anything wrong."
A GoFundMe page has been set up for the suspended EMT.