14 Patients Meet Their Life-Saving First Responders At FDNY Second Chance Ceremony

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The FDNY hosted the 24th annual Second Chance Ceremony on Tuesday in celebration of National EMS Week.

Fourteen patients who each survived cardiac arrest got the chance to reunite with first responders who helped save their lives, including little Emma Hasankolli. Her father called 9-1-1 when he found her unresponsive last year. The dispatcher talked him through cardiopulmonary resuscitation until help arrived. George Valente was a member of that team.

"Just to know that she's OK, that she survived and you know we drop people off at the hospital and most of the time we don't know what happens to them. To see her here today and running around, it's unbelievable. It really is. It makes every single job I've ever done 100 percent worth it," Valente said.

Eleven of the survivors received CPR from bystanders before on-duty FDNY members arrived.

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