Brittany Kriegstein and Thomas Tracy
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — A Harlem FDNY paramedic needed medical attention after she was attacked by her partner during an argument inside their ambulance, authorities and sources said Wednesday.
Doctors used staples to close the gash in the back of 29-year-old FDNY paramedic Theresa Murphy’s head following the Tuesday night attack allegedly committed by colleague and fellow Paramedic Ashley Pernice.
The two paramedics were arguing in their ambulance while it sat outside Harlem Hospital at about 10 p.m. when Pernice, 27, began hitting Murphy with the electronic tablet used to monitor patient care, officials said.
Pernice struck her partner in the back of the head and the cheek, leaving Murphy with bruises and a deep wound, sources with knowledge of the case said.
Murphy was treated by doctors at Harlem Hospital. She filed a criminal complaint against Pernice, but no charges have been brought.
An FDNY spokesman said that both paramedics have been put on “restricted duty while the department investigates this incident.”
Neither employee was suspended, but that could change if one is criminally charged, officials said.
Attempts to reach both paramedics were not successful Wednesday. In June, the FDNY honored both women at their Medal Day ceremony for making pre-hospital saves in 2018, officials said. Pernice was awarded the same honor at the Medal Day ceremony in 2017, records show.
Murphy is the daughter of FDNY Lt. Dennis Murphy, according to a Facebook posting made when she graduated the EMS academy in 2016.
At the time, the graduating cadet said that her father recommended that she join EMS.
“I am honored to be part of that family now,” she said in the post.
https://www.facebook.com/FDNY/photos/a.316291185728/10154543413250729/?type=3&theater
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