FDNY EMS responds to emergencies including fires, shootings, cardiac arrests, and mental health crises, where seconds determine outcomes. EMS operates under the Fire Department but faces structural disadvantages that limit effectiveness. Many U.S. cities treat EMS as a separate third 911 service alongside police and fire. FDNY EMTs and paramedics are highly trained yet are the lowest paid and most overworked emergency responders in the city. Pay and benefit gaps between firefighters and paramedics cause attrition, damage morale, and jeopardize public safety. Separating EMS into an independent agency aims to correct structural inequities and strengthen emergency care.
When New Yorkers dial 911, they expect help - fast, skilled and lifesaving. Whether it's a fire, a shooting, a cardiac arrest or a mental health crisis, lives often hang in the balance of seconds. Yet for too long, the city's emergency medical services - FDNY EMS - have been treated like a side note instead of a pillar of the city's emergency response infrastructure.
FDNY EMS is staffed primarily by EMTs and paramedics - workers who are highly trained, deeply experienced and often the first healthcare providers a person will ever encounter. Yet they are the lowest paid and most overworked of the city's emergency responders. An FDNY firefighter and an EMS paramedic may show up to the same scene, risk the same dangers and respond to the same calls.
Collection
[
|
...
]