#NYPD detective helps distressed woman on JetBlue flight

Enlarge Image

Alexandra Schuler/picture alliance via Getty Images

One of New York’s Finest took his duties to new heights when he helped a woman who was in distress on a flight back to the city from Arizona.

NYPD Detective Joe Lavelle, 34, was returning home from Phoenix with his girlfriend Sunday when the JetBlue crew called out over the loudspeaker asking if there was a medical professional onboard.

But nobody responded, Lavelle said.

“I jumped out of my seat,” Lavelle told The Post. “I went to the back and I identified myself as a detective and an EMT.”

Lavelle, who received his EMT training from the NYPD, said he wasn’t sure at first what was happening with the woman, but that there was a possibility she was having a heart attack.

“She was in distress,” he said.

He checked her vitals and realized she was stable, but stayed with her for the rest of the flight to keep her calm.

“I calmed her down where she wasn’t in danger,” he said. “We were able to avoid having the plane make a forced landing.”

Lavelle said the woman was having a panic attack.

“We got her off the plane and she was fine,” he said. “She could not stop thanking me.”

Detectives Endowment Association president Paul DiGiacomo said Lavelle “personifies what it means to be a hero.”