By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 17:32 EST, 16 June 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 17:35 EST, 16 June 2013 . A dedicated emergency dispatcher stayed on the line with a stroke victim for nearly 8 hours while emergency personnel desperately searched for the woman who was unable to describe her own location. New York City Fire Department dispatcher Joann Hilman-Payne took a call around 1 p.m. Monday. The call came from a cell phone and the victim had suffered a stroke, causing her speech to become badly slurred. Diligence: FDNY Dispatcher Joann Hilman-Payne stayed on the phone with a stroke victim for 8 hours as emergency workers searched desperately for her . Using information from the cell phone tower that had routed the call from the victim, Mary Thomas, the medics first rushed to an East 71st street Manhattan address according to the New York Post. But Thomas wasn’t there. Still on the phone with Thomas, Hilman-Payne continued speaking to Thomas and trying to get as much information about her location as possible. ‘Throughout the entirety, she worked to keep the patient awake, she never lost her own composure and remained calm while attempting to elicit more information from the patient,’ wrote Emergency Medical Dispatch Capt. Philip . Weiss in a letter recommending to the FDNY that Hilman-Payne be given recognition for her valiant efforts. Desperate: The New York Fire Department, fire marshal, and NYPD all searched for victim Mary Thomas on Monday. Versizon was finall able to pinpoint her location using her cell phone . Before any of that could happen, however, the ailing Thomas needed to be found. Hilman-Payne’s boss, Lt. Arlene Simmons, enlisted the Fire Marshal’s Office for help. Together they searched patient databases and for people who shared Thomas’s name. Though that search would prove futile because, as it turned out, Thomas wasn’t calling from her home. The NYPD threw their hat in the ring as well, as did Verizon Wireless, in an effort to precisely pinpoint the victim’s location. Found: It turned out, Thomas wasn't at home, but at work. She was finally found at an apartment where she is a housekeeper on Manhattan's Upper East side and was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital (pictured) where she remains . For the rest of the day, Hilman-Payne stayed on the phone with Thomas. Finally, Thomas was located with the help of Verizon. As it turned out, she’d suffered the stroke at her workplace—an East 72nd Street apartment where she worked as a housekeeper. Thomas was rushed to Lenox Hill hospital, where she remains in intensive care. And the largely positive outcome can all be traced back to the heroic efforts of Hilman-Payne who remained diligent throughout the day-long search. ‘I have no doubt that without the efforts of all involved,’ wrote Wiess. [That the] outcome would not have been positive.’
New York Fire Department dispatcher Joann Hilman-Payne kept stroke victim Mary Thomas calm and conscious while emergency workers scoured Manhattan for an entire day in search of the woman .
By . Daily Mail Reporter . PUBLISHED: . 17:32 EST, 16 June 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 17:35 EST, 16 June 2013 . A dedicated emergency dispatcher stayed on the line with a stroke victim for nearly 8 hours while emergency personnel desperately searched for the woman who was unable to describe her own location. New York City Fire Department dispatcher Joann Hilman-Payne took a call around 1 p.m. Monday. The call came from a cell phone and the victim had suffered a stroke, causing her speech to become badly slurred. Diligence: FDNY Dispatcher Joann Hilman-Payne stayed on the phone with a stroke victim for 8 hours as emergency workers searched desperately for her . Using information from the cell phone tower that had routed the call from the victim, Mary Thomas, the medics first rushed to an East 71st street Manhattan address according to the New York Post. But Thomas wasn’t there. Still on the phone with Thomas, Hilman-Payne continued speaking to Thomas and trying to get as much information about her location as possible. ‘Throughout the entirety, she worked to keep the patient awake, she never lost her own composure and remained calm while attempting to elicit more information from the patient,’ wrote Emergency Medical Dispatch Capt. Philip . Weiss in a letter recommending to the FDNY that Hilman-Payne be given recognition for her valiant efforts. Desperate: The New York Fire Department, fire marshal, and NYPD all searched for victim Mary Thomas on Monday. Versizon was finall able to pinpoint her location using her cell phone . Before any of that could happen, however, the ailing Thomas needed to be found. Hilman-Payne’s boss, Lt. Arlene Simmons, enlisted the Fire Marshal’s Office for help. Together they searched patient databases and for people who shared Thomas’s name. Though that search would prove futile because, as it turned out, Thomas wasn’t calling from her home. The NYPD threw their hat in the ring as well, as did Verizon Wireless, in an effort to precisely pinpoint the victim’s location. Found: It turned out, Thomas wasn't at home, but at work. She was finally found at an apartment where she is a housekeeper on Manhattan's Upper East side and was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital (pictured) where she remains . For the rest of the day, Hilman-Payne stayed on the phone with Thomas. Finally, Thomas was located with the help of Verizon. As it turned out, she’d suffered the stroke at her workplace—an East 72nd Street apartment where she worked as a housekeeper. Thomas was rushed to Lenox Hill hospital, where she remains in intensive care. And the largely positive outcome can all be traced back to the heroic efforts of Hilman-Payne who remained diligent throughout the day-long search. ‘I have no doubt that without the efforts of all involved,’ wrote Wiess. [That the] outcome would not have been positive.’
while emergency personnel desperately searched location. New York City Fire Department dispatcher Joann Hilman-Payne took a call around for victim Mary Thomas on Monday. Versizon was . For the rest of the day, Hilman-Payne stayed on