AMR Paramedic Dillon Ransom says he didn’t think twice when he got a text asking if he would travel to some of the coronavirus hotspots. He is one of dozens of Central New York EMTs who have answered a call unlike any other.

“It was really just the opportunity to help out," said Ransom. "Hearing about everything that was down there, the chaotic situation, it’s really everyone in EMS they do this to help out.”

He spent a month working alongside EMTs in the Bronx and on Long Island.

“I was happy to give them a day off, a few hours off at least, trying to take some of that burden off of their shoulders,” said Ransom.

Ransom left in late March with a team from AMR - all working under a FEMA contact. Most of the calls he went to were covid-related, and he says it was unlike anything he’s ever seen.

“When you pick somebody up and you see them, you know they’re able to talk them," Ransom explained. "They just have this general feeling of shortness of breath. And then, you check in on them an hour later, and they’ve crashed. Things that normally take days or weeks, have been taking place in hours with this.”

Ransom says he was worried about his own health, but as a young, healthy guy, he figured the odds were in his favor. Plus, he and his partner vigorously cleaned the ambulance to keep themselves and the patients safe.