New York City is at the epicenter of the Covid-19 health crisis, and as a New York City-based College that educates students committed to public service, our alumni, students, faculty, and staff are working on the front lines to keep our communities safe. Our “Front-Line Heroes” article series serves as a testament to the valiant efforts of our first responders and essential workers. As a community we thank them for their service, dedication, and personal sacrifice.

In the race to flatten the curve, EMS professionals such as John Jay alumnus and adjunct professor in the Security, Fire, and Emergency Management department Richard Sposa ’01, worked around the clock to acquire life-saving equipment for hospitals and expeditiously increase the number of beds and intensive care units for Covid-19 patients. Working in Bergen County, New Jersey, one of the hardest hit counties in the state, Sposa, Director of Englewood Health’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS), runs the hospital command center, where he ensures staff have enough personal protective equipment (PPE), and patients are cared for properly and safely. We spoke with Sposa to learn more about the Covid-19 response and how his John Jay education helped him handle the crisis.

At the height of the Covid-19 crisis in Bergen County, what did a typical day look like for you?
At the height of this crisis every day was a constant scramble. It was a non-stop race trying to meet the needs of our staff and ensuring they had enough PPE, and trying to meet the needs of our patients and providing them with everything quickly. We moved fast to do a massive build out of the hospital, where we expanded the number of hospital beds and ICU units. We converted areas that usually take care of orthopedic patients into intensive care units. Overnight we turned areas of the hospital into negative-pressure rooms so that we could keep our staff safe and prevent the virus from leaving the room and going out into the hallways. We really worked hard to get this all done as fast as possible.

How has your education from John Jay, and teaching classes at the College, helped guide you during this crisis?
A John Jay education, whether you’re the student or professor, provides you with a balanced perspective. You’re exposed to so many different viewpoints, cultures, races, opinions, and political leanings that you become more open to learning and adapting. You learn to really listen to others and respect their point of views, and that’s helpful because when you’re in a crisis, you need to listen to others. That allows you to adapt in a crisis. You have your standard guiding principles and plan in place, and you change the plan as needed.

How has this global health crisis impacted you on a personal level?
I responded to incidents following plane crashes, train crashes, fires, hurricane floods, and even 9/11, but I’ve never faced an incident such as the Covid-19 health crisis. It put so much personal and professional stress on me. I had sleepless nights, nightmares, and I had difficulty facing the day sometimes. I’m trained in NATAL’s Operational Stress Management, which gives you this big toolbox of ways to deal with stressful situations. During the height of this crisis there were days I used every single tool in that toolbox and it still wasn’t enough.

What is it about the Covid-19 crisis that’s made it more stressful than all the other emergencies you’ve faced?
I think it’s a few things. In all those other instances I was responding to an incident. I wasn’t in the plane or train that crashed, I wasn’t in the towers on 9/11. With Covid-19, you can’t see it, but you’re immersed in it. You could be responding to an incident, working on a patient and be sick and not even know it. You could bring it home to your family. And, you don’t know when this crisis is going to end. Then you hear about friends and colleagues who are getting sick, and that their family members are dying, and it can take a toll on you.

Is there any moment that hit you particularly hard?
One of our front-line supervisors and his wife, who was a nurse at a hospital, both tested positive for Covid-19 and they got really sick. Unfortunately, his wife didn’t make it and she died at the hospital. The really awful thing is that he didn’t even get to say goodbye to her. I actually spoke with him recently and he’s not ready to come back. He’s still feeling sick and isn’t ready to be back at work.

In the tri-state area, there seems to be a decline in positive cases and hospitalizations, what do you attribute this to?
I’d attribute it to the social-distancing measures and lock downs that were put in place—those measures worked. In the beginning, Bergen County was one of the hardest hit counties in the state, first we saw our patient population increase slowly and then, all of a sudden, it spiked. Once schools were closed and the lock downs started to happen, we began to see the spread of Covid-19 slow down and the flattening of the curve. Now, we’re definitely seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. We’ve opened up elective surgeries, we’ve decommissioned units that were all Covid-19, and our Covid-19 patient census is down.

What would you like the John Jay community to know about what first responders working on the front lines of this global crisis?
While we appreciate being called heroes, we don’t really see ourselves that way, we’re just doing the job we chose to do. What I do hope continues to happen is the recognition of EMS, during this crisis it was recognized as a first-responder service which is wonderful. EMS has long been seen just as an ancillary service, and yet it’s so much more. We walk an interesting line because we do a little bit of everything, health care, public health, and first response. I’ve worked in EMS for 25 years and for the first time in my career it feels like the system is being given the recognition it deserves. I think this crisis really highlighted the fact that the world needs quality EMS more than they realized.

Thinking forward, what do you hope we do in the future to help handle a situation like this?
Having a stockpile of PPE is so important. While we never ran out, we did come close. Thankfully, we had years of stockpile on hand from previous pandemic responses including H1N1, Swine Flu, and Ebola, so at the start we had a lot of equipment on hand. But it wasn’t the same across all hospitals. We heard horror stories from so many other hospitals.

Have there been any acts of kindness or moments that have uplifted you?
I have probably 70 letters from school kids, along with posters and hand drawn pictures, thanking us for our service. There were several people who wanted to donate masks. They’d say, “here, you guys need this more than I do,” as they tried to hand us one individual mask, possibly their only mask. It was really heartwarming. We received a ton of support, especially from the community around us. We actually had to hire a team to handle all the food donations coming into the hospital. It was really appreciated because with all the donations, we were able to feed the entire hospital staff breakfast, lunch, and dinner. After a few weeks, we told people who were still donating to send their donations to local food banks and help feed families in need. While we certainly appreciate the donations, we recognize that there’s a lot of food insecurity right now. People are struggling, they’re out of work and having difficulty feeding their families. Those donations should go to them.