WEB CHAT: 'Operation 7: Save a Life'

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Being knowledgeable about fire safety and emergency preparedness can truly be a matter of life and death. Eyewitness News has brought our viewers "Operation 7: Save a Life" since 1999. Again this January, Eyewitness News is invited experts on fire safety and burn injuries to take part in a web chat to share that critical knowledge.[br /][br /][media ID="1167474" /][br /][media ID="1167536" /][br /][media ID="1167595" /][br /][media ID="1167645" /][br /][br /]Taking part in our chat were Eyewitness News Anchor Bill Ritter, Dr. James Gallagher, Assistant Professor of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College and an Assistant Attending Surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, Heather Caldwell, marketing and communications manager for Kidde Fire Safety and Lt. Anthony Mancuso, Director of Fire Safety Education for the FDNY.[br /][br /][b]MORE ON OUR WEB CHAT GUESTS: [/b][br /][br /][img SRC="http://dig.abclocal.go.com/wabc/marketing/wabc_gallagher_img.jpg" ALIGN="left" /][b]Dr. James Gallagher, Assistant Professor of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College and an Assistant Attending Surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center[/b]: Dr. James Gallagher is a board-certified surgeon with extensive experience in the treatment of burns, surgical critical care, and international surgery. His areas of interest include surgical education, international surgical outreach, the burned hand, burn resuscitation, and surgical care of the burn wound. He received his B.S. Summa Cum Laude in Biochemistry from the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1988 and his M.D. from SUNY Upstate Medical Center, Syracuse, New York in 1992. He completed his internship and residency training in general surgery at Robert Packer Hospital, Sayre, Pennsylvania in June, 1997. He is currently an assistant professor of Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College and an assistant attending surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.[br /][br /]After completing training in General Surgery he spent four years in private practice in Dansville, New York before deciding to sell his home and move his entire family to Cameroon West Africa. For more than a year, Dr. Gallagher was the solo surgeon in a rural missionary hospital there and it was during this time that he was first exposed to patients with burn injuries and developed an interest in specializing in this field. Upon returning home to the United States, Dr. Gallagher completed fellowships in surgical critical care and trauma surgery at Stonybrook University and the William Randolph Hearst Burn Center at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.[br /][br /]Dr. Gallagher was an attending burn surgeon at The Shriners Burns Hospital for Children and the Blocker Adult Burn Unit at the University of Texas Medical Branch. He was appointed chairmen of performance improvement and infectious disease at the Shriners Hospital. While at Shriners he was part of a team of American and Mexican burn reconstructive surgeons who traveled to Guadalajara twice a year to treat children in need of surgical care to help relieve the long term effects of burn scars on their growing bodies.[br /][br /]In 2008, Dr. Gallagher and his family relocated to New York City and Dr. Gallagher rejoined the team at the Hearst Burn Center at NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell.[br /][br /][img SRC="http://dig.abclocal.go.com/wabc/marketing/2015_wabc_op7webchat_heathercaldwell.jpg" ALIGN="left" /][b]Heather Caldwell, Marketing and Communications Manager for Kidde Fire Safety[/b]: Heather Caldwell is the marketing and communications manager for Kidde Fire Safety, and oversees all external outreach campaigns and initiatives, including national and local advertising, media relations, social media, marketing, product donations, and community affairs and advocacy efforts.[br /][br /]Caldwell has worked at Kidde for more than 11 years. Previously, she was the public relations director for a digital video production company and spent five years as a television news producer. Caldwell graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a degree in journalism.[br /][br /][img SRC="http://dig.abclocal.go.com/wabc/marketing/2015_wabc-op7webchat_AnthonyMancuso.jpg" ALIGN="left" /][b]Lt. Anthony Mancuso, Director of Fire Safety Education for the FDNY[/b]: Lt. Anthony Mancuso has been the Director of Fire Safety Education for the FDNY since 2005. He has been with the FDNY for 30 years and was first assigned to Engine 26 and Ladder 3 in Manhattan for thirteen years and promoted to Lieutenant in 1996 and assigned to Engine 239 in Brooklyn.[br /][br /]As the director and fire safety educator, he teaches adults, seniors and children how to be fire safe by knowing how to escape from a fire. He also educates the public about smoke alarms and CO detectors, and where they should be placed in their home or apartment.[br /][Ads /][br /]Don't miss our special half hour, coming up on Jan. 23.[/b][br /][post ID="1148347" /][br /]