A 19-year-old EMT on Long Island died suddenly after finishing her shift, officials said, but it wasn't immediately clear what caused her death.
Susan Giovanniello returned to her home in Glen Cove Sunday morning after finishing an overnight shift, according to Mayor Pamela Panzenbeck. Shortly after, she collapsed.
Her fellow EMTs responded to the emergency at the home, but they were unable to save her.
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"Three of our members responded and then the rest of us went to the hospital and we were there until the end," said Veronica Brodnansky, a volunteer EMT and a colleague of Giovanniello's. "It was very sudden and traumatic."
Giovanniello's sister is also a volunteer EMT with Glen Cove. Bunting hung from the front of the EMS station in the city Wednesday night, as the teen's heartbroken family and devastated colleagues paid their respects at a wake.
"No small hometown community ever expects anything like a tragedy such as this," said Mayor Panzenbeck.
County Executive Bruce Blakeman came to the wake as well, and ordered all county flags be lowered to half staff.
"To lose a 19-year-old who was such a great kid, it’s horrible for them and it’s horrible for us," Blakeman said. "It’s a tough day but we will make sure Susan gets the proper send-off as the hero that she was."
What caused her death is under investigation, but the county has said she died in the line of duty.
Friends said Giovanniello began volunteering at 16 through the explorer’s program. Once she was old enough, she became an EMT, something she truly enjoyed doing.
"She was a wonderful EMT and she really loved what she did. And she lived to help people and she was really great at it," said Brodnansky.
