STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- An EMT worker from Richmond University Medical Center was injured when he stopped a Tompkinsville woman from attacking a police officer Wednesday morning, officials say.

The authorities were responding to an incident at 47 Montgomery Ave. at around 9 a.m. when Tasha Colon, 34, lunged at an NYPD sergeant with a pair of scissors while officers were trying to contain her boyfriend, police said.

EMT Joseph Piergiovanni then grabbed her hand before she could reach the officer, and the scissors cut his right hand, according to a hospital spokesman.

Piergiovanni, 29, was treated at the RUMC emergency room and released Wednesday.

"This incident underscores the heroic and dangerous work that our EMTs perform," said William Smith, director of public relations at the West Brighton hospital. "They often enter potentially dangerous situations armed only with the equipment they use to administer aid to those who need it."

Colon was charged with felony assault in the second degree, resisting arrest and criminal possession of a weapon, an NYPD spokeswoman said.