Public Employee Press

EMS cuts threaten public safety

Gov. David Paterson’s proposed budget is a threat to public safety. His plan would jeopardize the lives of New Yorkers by cutting a devastating $60 million from the budget of the Emergency Medical Service of the Fire Dept. of New York — 23 percent of EMS’s total funding.

“We are looking at a possible reduction of some 500 EMS professionals,” said Patrick Bahnken, president of Uniformed EMTs and Paramedics Local 2507.

Paterson’s cut would chop daily ambulance shifts from 611 to 471, and on top of that Mayor Bloomberg is pushing to eliminate $3 million in city funds, eliminating another 30 ambulance shifts.

Tragically, the cuts would hit as the EMS ambulance crews have achieved their best response time ever, an average of 6 minutes and 38 seconds. The planned budget cuts could raise that record response time to 8 minutes and 10 seconds, according to EMS Chief John Peruggia.

Responding to staff shortages, EMS shut down one of its two Haz-Tac units in January and reassigned the unit’s four EMS officers to regular ambulance stations. “This is the wrong response — these members are specially trained to deal with incidents involving nuclear or biological weapons of mass destruction and help people contaminated with hazardous materials or trapped in confined spaces,” said Uniformed EMS Officers Local 3621 President Thomas Eppinger. Now their expensively equipped truck sits idle, permanently parked on Randall’s Island, leaving only one Haz-Tac unit to cover the entire city.

Local 3621 members appeared March 19 at a City Council hearing carrying signs that warned, “EMS cuts cost lives,” and the local has buttons with that slogan.

Eppinger and Bahnken have testified in City Hall and traveled to Albany to lobby against the proposed cuts with DC 37 Political Director Wanda Williams. “We are certain that the state legislators are taking this situation very seriously,” said Bahnken.