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When he���Ĵ�ý�s not working full time for the state���Ĵ�ý�s largest health network, Timmy Li ���Ĵ�ý�11, ���Ĵ�ý�17M (PhD) can be found volunteering as an EMT in New York City���Ĵ�ý�s Central Park.

DOUBLE DUTY: At the same time that Li ramped up his work as a volunteer EMT, his regular job got a lot more demanding, too. Director for clinical research for emergency medicine at Northwell Health in New York, Li says, ���Ĵ�ý�My workload increased tremendously during this time due to COVID-related research studies.���Ĵ�ý�

In addition to his role overseeing clinical research for emergency medicine for New York state���Ĵ�ý�s largest health network, Timmy Li has long been part of a team of volunteer EMTs, the Central Park Medical Unit, that responds to medical emergencies in the 800-plus-acre Manhattan park.

As the pandemic reached a crisis level in the city early last spring, Li, along with other volunteers in the group, pivoted to COVID-19 response throughout the city, fulfilling a critical need, as many EMTs in the area had already fallen ill.

In April, the New York Post named Li ���Ĵ�ý�Hero of the Day���Ĵ�ý� for his role with the group.

Li did not take a leave from his full-time job. In fact, he says, ���Ĵ�ý�My workload increased tremendously during this time due to COVID-related research studies. During the weekdays, I worked on my Northwell duties from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., and then worked on the ambulance from 4 p.m. to midnight.���Ĵ�ý� He worked most weekends on the ambulance as well.

Li continues to volunteer with the unit. ���Ĵ�ý�We continue to remain vigilant and are ready to supplement the New York City 911 ambulance system again, should the need arise,���Ĵ�ý� he said in late October.

This article originally appeared in the fall 2020 issue of Rochester Review magazine.