How Long Will You Wait to Save EMS? An Open Letter to the NYC Council

EMS response times are at record highs largely due to the “second class status” of its dedicated workforce who need pay parity now.

Dear Council Member,

This Summer, the severity of the Emergency Medical Services staffing problem, as it is part of the FDNY, was clearly demonstrated. As temperatures in the city hovered near 100°F in June, the Mayor declared a Heat Emergency. During it, the average citywide ambulance response time to life-threatening medical emergencies climbed to 12 minutes and 19 seconds, the highest since March 2020 at the start of the Covid pandemic. On one of the "Heat Emergency" days, just 345 ambulances of a target of 483 were running, while 911 calls for medical help rose to over 5,000.

Last year during the congestion pricing debate, public officials blamed road traffic for the delayed emergency response times. Well, congestion pricing has been in effect since January. Through July, the average response time by ambulances to life-threatening medical emergencies in Manhattan climbed to 11 minutes, 53 seconds. That's 40 seconds more than during the same period in 2024.

The reality is: ambulances simply can't run without certified Emergency Medical Technicians and paramedics. Historically low base pay hinders the Emergency Medical Services' recruitment of enough trainees (except those who join to have an advantage over the general public to be hired as a firefighter). It sabotages keeping trained staff in EMS. Hundreds will leave EMS for firefighting this year. Readily available public data point to an ever-deteriorating situation.

Despite Local Law 19 of 2001 and NYC Council Resolution 1062-2019, both adopted unanimously, that the FDNY EMS be treated as a "uniformed service" and their salaries be comparable to firefighters' and police officers', EMS is still left out of the "parity" agreements that the Office of Labor Relations has with the police, fire, and sanitation unions. The base salary for an EMT after 51⁄2 years on the job is $59,534. For Sanitation Workers, in the lowest paid of the "parity" services, the annual base salary rose to $95,316 as of 12/28/2025, and will rise again, to $99,129, at the end of this year. No amount of Council words of support for the FDNY EMS has helped.

Workers who collect our trash are paid tens of thousands of dollars more than EMTs and paramedics who treat and transport ill and injured people. The Council can do more. The passage of 0521-2024 will elevate the Emergency Medical Services from its second-class status.

Sincerely,

Helen Northmore

Staten Island, NY