Firefighter lieutenant explains FDNY's salute to health care workers: 'We all want to show our appreciation'
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FDNY firefighters took the time to salute their fellow first responders and New York City's health care workers fighting the coronavirus pandemic because they wanted to show their appreciation, Fire Officers Association Treasurer Lt. Jimmy McCarthy said Saturday.
On Friday night at shift change -- or 7 p.m. ET -- McCarthy and his fellow Ladder 25 firefighters gave a round of applause -- and a couple of siren blasts -- in support of the employees of NYU Langone.
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Appearing on "Fox & Friends Weekend" with hosts Jillian Mele, Pete Hegseth and Griff Jenkins, McCarthy said that the relationship between firefighters and nurses and doctors in the emergency room is very important.
"We have a very dangerous job," he explained, "and a lot of guys get hurt. And, those are the first people we see when we come to the hospital and we need to build them up in this time of the virus and the quarantines and the pressure they're under. So, we thought we could give them something of applause and [the] accolades they deserve."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}McCarthy said watching the way health care workers have treated coronavirus and other patients have given the FDNY a "sense of camaraderie" with them.
FIREFIGHTERS SALUTE HEALTH CARE WORKERS ON CORONAVIRUS FRONT LINE IN NEW YORK CITY
"We're happy that we can help people and we're really dedicated to serving the public of New York City. And, we appreciate what's going on with the nurses and doctors and all of the staff in the hospital including the cleaning staff and everybody that helps them get their job done," he said.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In "trying times," Americans and New Yorkers need an "uplifting moment" showing people helping each other, McCarthy added.
"I know it's a trying day and that's the end of their shift and new people are coming on to work for their own shift, so we want to help them and give them a boost with our encouragement and appreciation," he told the "Friends Weekend" hosts.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We're going to mark our [lives] by these moments and trying times make for important actions and lift people up and they show the metal of people that respond to these things," McCarthy said.
"So, people are challenged and they rise to the occasion and that's what these doctors and nurses and working people in the hospitals are doing and that's why the firefighters and EMTs and the paramedics and the lieutenants and the chiefs and the captains -- we all want to show our appreciation for their work and sacrifices."