FDNY EMTs are facing a series of staffing issues five years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic when their life-saving efforts were invaluable for people around the city, a local union head said on Tuesday.
The city’s medical first responders at FDNY EMS are handling a dramatic increase in emergencies and experiencing a 15.4% spike in responses since the start of the pandemic in 2020. With a strained workforce and employees earning just above minimum wage, their union has one message for the public: “Do not take this job.”
Meanwhile, the public suffers as emergency response time continues to creep up each year due to not enough staff or tours, explained FDNY EMT Local 2507 President Oren Barzilay.
Since work has gotten strained for EMTs—who make just $18.94/hour, which is less than delivery app workers—Barzilay is calling for the public to not join the FDNY until City Hall provides pay parity for EMS members on par with other first responders in New York City.
Simultaneously, EMTs are also quitting in resounding numbers, Barzilay said.
“Things in this agency are spiraling out of control,” the union leader attested. “Everybody portrays the FDNY as a great agency we work for, but in reality it’s a disgrace when it comes to the men and women of EMS. We are so poorly treated by the city of New York when it comes to our wages. It’s no wonder why every day two people resign.”
FDNY Commissioner Robert Tucker has also shed light on the problems EMTs face, as noted in a recent Daily News article.
“New York City’s ‘Street Doctors’ are miracle workers, protecting lives while receiving wages that are incompatible for the skilled medical professionals that they are,” Barzilay said. “This administration is refusing to negotiate in good faith.
According to the union’s data, with 290,000 emergencies in January and February, FDNY EMS medical emergency responses are on pace to surpass 1.7 million in 2025, an increase approaching 7.3% over the last year. Barzilay said the system is unsustainable and on the cusp of collapse, due lack of support from City Hall.
Amanda Menzel, an FDNY EMT who works in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, said she loves her rewarding career, but the long hours and low pay are a heavy challenge.
“With the pay, there are 12-hour tours, 8-hour tours, but people do more hours than that,” the Staten Island resident said. “We have to do a lot of overtime or have a second job to just pay the bills. Nobody wants to work 80 or 90 hours a week, or whatever it is, just to pay the bills. That’s what it is for us. We all have to do a significant amount of overtime or work a second job outside of EMS.”
Each year, the total number of emergencies increases, and unfortunately, so does response time because of dwindling headcounts from resignations, Barzilay said.
According to the Mayor’s Preliminary Management Report (MMR) issued at the end of January, end-to-end response times to life-threatening medical emergencies for FDNY EMS were 10:52 in FY2024, compared to 10:43 in FY2023.
A City Hall spokesperson recognized the work and “countless sacrifices” EMS workers make to keep New Yorkers safe.
“Joining this team is not only a powerful opportunity to serve, but it comes with incredible benefits, including health insurance, retirement benefits, exceptional promotional opportunities, and the family that is the FDNY,” the spokesperson said.
He added that the administration is grateful for the employees’ efforts, but can not comment on ongoing negotiations.
“Our administration has delivered for the working-class New Yorkers in our unions, successfully negotiating contracts with unions representing more than 98% of the city’s workforce,” the spokesperson said. “We do not comment on ongoing negotiations, but we are hopeful to reach a voluntary settlement that is fair and equitable to both our dedicated EMS workers and city taxpayers.”
In the meantime, EMTs are waiting to hear more information from the mayor.
“He made a pledge on national television that he will fix EMS pay issues on day one,” Barzilay said. “We are now almost four years into his term, and not a single phone call or message telling us that they are going to work on this. Nothing.”
