Fighting every day to save lives the work of Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics is stressful enough Yet, like many other city workers, they also have to wage a fierce battle against the city's continual effort to privatize their jobs.

According to Patrick J. Bahnken, president of Local 2507, the expanded role of voluntary hospital and other outside ambulances has cut the share of total ambulance runs performed byEmergency Medical Service crews from 80 percent to 60 percent over the last two years.

Instead of privatizing, the city should invest greater efforts in collecting the outstanding revenues from health insurers for ambulance service.

"The percentage of fees collected nationwide is 70 percent," said Israel Miranda, recording secretary of Local 2507. "But the city only collects 27 percent of the money that it bills."

Revenue generating measures proposed in DC 37's "white paper" include increasing standard duty tours from eight to12 hours.

The plan would allow the Fire Dept. to deploy about 12 percent more daily tours without increasing the number of EMTs and Paramedics. "There is no need to privatize," said Mr. Miranda. "We have the personnel to do the job."

"The city has been gradually privatizing ambulance services, and that has resulted in $100 million net loss in revenues for city hospitals. — Patrick J. Bahnken Local 2507 President

According to a union study, the 12-hour tours would result in a built-in annual total of 280 hours of overtime per member. Currently, overtime averages 298 hours per year for EMTs and 282 hours per year for Paramedics. The 12-hour shifts would therefore reduce the total amount of overtime and save money for the Fire Dept.

Another cost-cutting measure is to extend the recertification cycle for EMTs and Paramedics from three to five years. EMTs and Paramedics undergo rigorous training and every three-year period requires a recertification process that involves 88 hours of training and testing for EMTs and 128 hours for Paramedics.

Extending the recertification cycle would save the Fire Dept. close to $2 million dollars annually. Eliminating one out of three roll calls for the Basic Life Support Units and the Advanced Life Support Units could save another $1 million dollars per year.

— Alfredo Alvarado