New York City firefighter Thomas Gies of Merrick had just locked hands with Mayor Michael Bloomberg and received a medal of valor.

But all the five-year FDNY veteran could think about Wednesday was getting back to Long Island and his wife, Stephanie, who gave birth to their daughter just hours before the Manhattan ceremony honoring firefighters and paramedics.

Gies - whose firefighter father, Ronnie E. Gies, was killed Sept. 11, 2001, in the World Trade Center's South Tower - waded through the crowd and headed for the exits as soon as the fire department's 2009 Medal Day ended.

He stopped briefly to say one thing before dashing off: "I have to get back to the hospital."

Fire officials said later that the Gieses' daughter, Madison Faith, was born Tuesday night. They said mother and baby are doing fine.

Gies, 26, is assigned to Ladder Company 147 in Brooklyn and was among the firefighters who received 38 medals at the event. Twelve medals were awarded to paramedics.

The Dr. J.W. Goldenkranz Medal was awarded to Gies for his heroics in a Feb. 6, 2008, fire in Prospect Park South in Brooklyn. After forcing his way inside a three-story dwelling on Flatbush Avenue, Gies crawled on his stomach through thick smoke and found an unconscious man, 30, and dragged him to safety.

Medals were awarded to several other Long Islanders, including firefighter Anthony Romano, of Oceanside, who received the James Gordon Bennett Medal, a top honor for an outstanding act of heroism.

Romano saved a fellow firefighter from a burning building in Richmond Hill, Queens, on Feb. 26, 2008. Last year, Lt. James Congema of Smithtown received the award.

The department's highest honor - the Dr. Harry M. Archer Medal, which is awarded every three years - went to firefighter James Byrne of Ladder Company 121 in Queens for rescuing a fellow firefighter.

A new award called the World Trade Center Memorial Medal went to Ladder Company 4 in Manhattan, which was recognized as Company of the Year.

The medal, a tribute to firefighters killed in the 2001 attacks, will be awarded each year to a unit that "exemplifies the spirit and bravery of all those who gave their lives on that day."

"The feats that our bravest perform every day could rival anything that we see in the movies," Bloomberg said.