Susan Giovanniello, Glen Cove EMT, 19, mourned after line-of-duty death on Monday

The city of Glen Cove is in mourning this week following the line-of-duty death of a teenage volunteer EMT who suffered a medical emergency after her weekend shift with Glen Cove EMS, officials said.

Susan Giovanniello, 19, of Glen Cove, suffered “a life-threatening medical emergency” after arriving home early Sunday from her overnight EMT shift, said Nassau County fire service coordinator Michael F. Uttaro, who also is the county’s chief fire marshal. She was taken by Glen Cove EMS in critical condition to Glen Cove Hospital, where she died early Monday.

An official cause of death has not been determined.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman ordered flags throughout the county be flown at half-staff this week to honor Giovanniello.

 She "proudly served residents with distinction, putting the safety, health and well-being of others before her own. The City of Glen Cove and the County of Nassau is better because of her service," Blakeman said in a statement Tuesday. 

Giovanniello began her service as a 16-year-old coming up through the Glen Cove EMS Explorer system. Her sister, Jessica, also is a Glen Cove EMT, officials said.

Glen Cove Mayor Pamela Panzenbeck also ordered flags throughout the city be flown at half-staff to honor Giovanniello.

Panzenbeck said she was in church Sunday when she received notification that Giovanniello had been hospitalized and rushed to the hospital.

“It was a dire situation and she was fighting for her life,” Panzenbeck said Tuesday. “A lot of these young EMT and EMS workers deal with these things on a regular basis, but it’s never one of their co-workers that they have to transport when they go on a call. 

“It isn’t supposed to be this way, having something like this happen,” he said.

Glen Cove EMS Chief Robert Picoli said his small but close-knit department was devastated by the loss. “We haven’t had the ability to process it yet,” the stunned chief said Tuesday. “She was an amazing person.”

A wake for Giovanniello will be held Wednesday from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Dodge-Thomas Funeral Home on Franklin Avenue in Glen Cove, with a full line-of-duty funeral service Thursday, beginning with Mass at St. Rocco Roman Catholic Church at 10 a.m. followed by burial at Holy Rood Cemetery in Westbury.

“When you hear a story of a young person joining the volunteer service, especially after coming up through the ranks, someone with their whole life in front of her … it’s just really sad,” Uttaro said. “There was a massive amount of potential for this young woman to do something good — and, it would’ve been amazing to see where she could go with all her hard work.

“It’s tragic,” he said. “It’s just a shame.”

Panzenbeck, who spent Sunday at the hospital with Giovanniello’s parents, brother, sister and extended family, said: “It’s heartbreaking. The family is absolutely devastated. We are totally a community in mourning … Go home and hug your family. Life is precious.”

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”