The FDNY academy graduated its newest cohort of paramedics on Tuesday, bringing a host of new paramedics to the department, including some who come from a proud lineage of public servants.
Javon Fabian, who attended the morning ceremony with 86 other graduates at the Christian Cultural Center in Brooklyn, is part of that generation. His mother, Diana Wilson, a paramedic, told The Washington Post that she was pregnant with him while he was a student at the academy.
“I actually found out I was pregnant when I left school,” says Wilson, now an instructor. “Now, 20 years later, my son is certified, out on the streets, and serving his community in South Jamaica, Queens.”
“I'm overwhelmed with emotions right now,” she continued. “I'm so happy for him. I'm so proud of him. I expect so much from him.”
Fabian called the experience “surreal.”
“It feels amazing,” he said. “It feels like the culmination of so many years of hard work has finally come to fruition and now I'm here. This is it.”
His goal as a firefighter? To carve his own path.
“I'm looking to get promoted and really make my mark,” he said.
According to a city press release, the paramedics-in-training, including three military veterans, underwent 18 weeks of training at the academy, learning cardiopulmonary resuscitation, medical and trauma assessment of patients, oxygen and ventilator techniques, managing hypotension and fractures, spinal immobilization and emergency delivery, and driving emergency vehicles.
Fourth academy graduate Richard Corcoran IV walked into the ceremony with his father and grandfather, both firefighters, looking on.
“of course [it’s big shoes to fill]”Everywhere I go, people say, 'Oh, you're from Corcoran,' so everybody knows everybody.”
“As far as EMS goes, I'd like to be a paramedic someday, maybe a paramedic. I'd probably do that for about five years, but I'd like to go into the fire department,” he said.
“I was able to intimidate all my kids into taking the exam,” 84-year-old grandfather Richard Corcoran II boasted.
“It's a really great job because you're helping people,” he says. “You're serving people. You're defining your career.”
“You can't ask for better working conditions than a firefighter,” he continued.
“There are actually two families living there. I've eaten dinner at the fire station, probably more than I ever had at home. If anyone wants to do that, make the time. That would be great.”
