For the squished and the squeamish, the Subway Squeeze can be hazardous to their health. As subway usage soars thousands of straphangers are getting sick on overcrowded trains and platforms. They gasp they gag, they faint.

On a recent weekday, emmanuelle Mireille, 45, stumbled from a packed No. 6 train at Grand central Station on the verge of passing out. She sat on the platform floor, short of breath and sweating.

"I was standing up, and I got very hot, said the Manhattan housekeeper, fanning herself with her hand. "It was very crowded. ... There were no seats."

Claude Torres, an emergency medical technician who has treated hundreds of ill riders in the past two years, rushed to her aid, took her blood pressure and urged her to calm down

"For most passengers, the cause is congestion and overcrowding," he said "People are so crowded they overexert themselves. They are constantly perspiring, they get nauseous. It gets so crowded, they can't even turn around."

torres works on a special Transit Authority emergency medical technician program designed to reduce crowding and delays in the jam-packed subway system.

EMTs are stationed at major transfer hubs to quickly remove ill passengers and provide immediate medical assistance.

TA spokesman Al O Leary said the primary goal of the ongoing program is "to keep trains moving."

Waiting for ambulance crews to remove an ill passenger can take 10 to 15 minutes.

"The reality is that at a place like Grand Central, a 15-minute delay can delay 13 trains during rush hour," O'Leary said. That equals about 26.000 riders sitting in trains with red signals during rush hour, with thousands more waiting on platforms up the line.

The TA has medical personnel at nine transfer hubs in Manhattan, at Grand Central Station, 125th and Lexington Ave., W. Fourth St., and Fifth Ave. at 53rd St.; in Brooklyn, at Atlantic Ave., DeKalb Ave. and Jay St.-Borough Hall, and in Queens, at Queens Plaza and Roosevelt Ave.

The medic program, started in 1998, has reduced train delays caused by sick riders, officials said. On the IRT lines, for example such train delays have dropped about 50% from 1997 figures.

Yesterday TA officials said they will probably expand the EMT program in an effort to reduce crowding and related train delays.

The TA also said it probably will expand a second program — involving platform personnel assigned to stop waves of people from trying to enter trains before passengers get off.

We are constantly analyzing and reviewing these programs to see that they are serving their purpose and to see where else they may benefit our riders," said O'Leary. "It's likely we will see both of these programs expand."

The TA announcement comes amid an ongoing Daily News series, "Subway Squeeze," that outlines how straphangers are often forced to ride on torturously crowded trains

The News reported that with subway use zooming to 1,38 billion rides last year, straphangers frequently find themselves stuffed 200 to a car, with tempers flaring, elbows flying and stomachs churning.

The overcrowding along with service disruptions caused by widespread repairs and upgrades, has contributed to chronic delays, The News found.

The second program, called Step Aside, is already in effect at four Lexington Ave. line stations — Grand Central, Fulton St., 51st St. and 59th St.

Trains are stopped so doors line up with the words "Step Aside" painted in yellow boxes on the platform. platform personnel instruct waiting passengers to provide clear paths for exiting straphangers.

For the squished and the squeamish, the Subway Squeeze can be hazardous to their health. As subway usage soars, thousands of straphangers are getting sick on overcrowded trains and platforms. They gasp, they gag, they faint.

On a recent weekday, Emmanuelle Mireille, 45, stumbled from a packed No. 6 train at Grand Central Station on the verge of passing out. She sat on the platform floor, short of breath and sweating.

"I was standing up, and I got very hot," said the Manhattan housekeeper, fanning herself with her hand. "It was very crowded. ... There were no seats."

Claude Torres, an emergency medical technician who has treated hundreds of ill riders in the past two years, rushed to her aid, took her blood pressure and urged her to calm down.

"For most passengers, the cause is congestion and overcrowding," he said. "People are so crowded they overexert themselves. They are constantly perspiring, they get nauseous. It gets so crowded, they can't even turn around."

Torres works on a special Transit Authority emergency medical technician program designed to reduce crowding and delays in the jam-packed subway system.

EMTs are stationed at major transfer hubs to quickly remove ill passengers and provide immediate medical assistance.

TA spokesman Al O'Leary said the primary goal of the ongoing program is "to keep trains moving."

Waiting for ambulance crews to remove an ill passenger can take 10 to 15 minutes.

"The reality is that at a place like Grand Central, a 15-minute delay can delay 13 trains during rush hour," O'Leary said. That equals about 26,000 riders sitting in trains with red signals during rush hour, with thousands more waiting on platforms up the line.

The TA has medical personnel at nine transfer hubs: in Manhattan, at Grand Central Station, 125th and Lexington Ave., W. Fourth St., and Fifth Ave. at 53rd St.; in Brooklyn, at Atlantic Ave., DeKalb Ave. and Jay St.-Borough Hall, and in Queens, at Queens Plaza and Roosevelt Ave.

The medic program, started in 1998, has reduced train delays caused by sick riders, officials said. On the IRT lines, for example, such train delays have dropped about 50% from 1997 figures.

Yesterday, TA officials said they will probably expand the EMT program in an effort to reduce crowding and related train delays.

The TA also said it probably will expand a second program — involving platform personnel assigned to stop waves of people from trying to enter trains before passengers get off.

"We are constantly analyzing and reviewing these programs to see that they are serving their purpose and to see where else they may benefit our riders," said O'Leary. "It's likely we will see both of these programs expand."

The TA announcement comes amid an ongoing Daily News series, "Subway Squeeze," that outlines how straphangers are often forced to ride on torturously crowded trains.

The News reported that with subway use zooming to 1.38 billion rides last year, straphangers frequently find themselves stuffed 200 to a car, with tempers flaring, elbows flying and stomachs churning.

The overcrowding, along with service disruptions caused by widespread repairs and upgrades, has contributed to chronic delays, The News found.

The second program, called Step Aside, is already in effect at four Lexington Ave. line stations — Grand Central, Fulton St., 51st St. and 59th St.

Trains are stopped so doors line up with the words "Step Aside" painted in yellow boxes on the platform. Platform personnel instruct waiting passengers to provide clear paths for exiting straphangers.