Funds being raised to help Flanders paramedic fighting COVID-19

A GoFundMe page has been established to raise money for a Flanders Northampton Volunteer Ambulance paramedic who is currently in the intensive care unit at Stony Brook University Hospital, where has been diagnosed with COVID-19. 

Jeff Alt, a full-time paid paramedic who has been with the FNVA since 2018, has double pneumonia, which means he has pneumonia in both lungs, as well as diabetic ketoacidosis, which he acquired because of the COVID-19, according to FNVA chief Mark Dunleavy.

Mr. Alt is the first member of the FNVA to test positive for COVID-19, the chief said. 

“He’s been responding to pandemic calls within the FNVA district, and he also works as a per diem paramedic for the ambulance corps in Westhampton and Gordon Heights. He’s also a longtime volunteer with the Middle Island Fire Department,” Mr. Dunleavy said. 

Mr. Alt, 40, is from Mastic and has a wife, Kim, and a young daughter, Emma Lynn. The GoFundMe page, where people can make online donations to help Mr. Alt and his family, is called “Help for Jeff Alt.” It has surpassed its original goal of $10,000 in one day, but the FVAC is hoping to raise additional funds.

“He’s got a long road to recovery,” Mr. Dunleavy said.

He said everyone is hoping to keep him off a ventilator. So far, he’s been assisted by what’s called a BiPAP machine.

“He’s got pneumonia, so he’s got fluid in his lungs,” Mr. Dunleavy said. “So they are trying to keep that down and keep it at bay. So far, it’s a roller coaster. He’s up and down. One minute, he’s fine, and the next minute he’s crashing.”