By JANE LaTOUR

Danger on the streets is part of the job for Emergency Medical Service workers, but some of the hazards they face have nothing to do with saving lives.

“The Fire Department is failing to maintain EMS facilities and putting our members’ health at risk,” said Israel Miranda, Safety Coordinator for EMTs and Paramedics Local 2507. “For three years, the union has been bringing the problems to labor-management meetings, with no results.”

The State Labor Dept. has issued multiple citations to EMS battalions throughout the city. Battalion 58 in Brooklyn is typical. On Jan. 17, the Public Employee Safety and Health Bureau hit the battalion with a list of violations.

A member of Uniformed EMS Officers Local 3621, Lt. Anthony Durante has a mountain of paperwork recording four years of official indifference to the serious problems plaguing the battalion. Three items top the list — diesel fumes, the ventilation system, and pigeon feces.

“The ventilation system infuriates me,” said Lt. Durante. “There’s only one fan for the whole garage. It’s been cleaned once in nine years. Over 40 ambulances contaminate the place with diesel fumes. Everything is covered with black soot. Diesel exhaust is a known carcinogen, yet nothing is being done. It’s filthy and this is what we’re breathing.”

They are also breathing in disease. Pigeons fly in and out, and droppings coat the floors and dry. Moving ambulances send up a toxic dust that carries the spores of diseases such as infectious histoplasmosis.

If trouble strikes when Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics are on the streets, their cries for help may not be heard. About 16 months ago, the DC 37 Safety Dept. filed a PESH complaint because EMS radios without the Police Dept. frequency cause excessive delays in getting back up. Assistant General Counsel Leonard Polletta said the union is now investigating whether litigation against the department will be necessary.

On Jan. 16, FDNY management reported some progress on the pigeon and ventilation problems at Battalion 58. A contract for cleaning up the pigeon droppings has gone out for bids, and the department has obtained funding to purchase a special ventilation system for Battalion 58. The agency plans to use the Brooklyn facility as a model for the other EMS facilities.

Lisa Baum, principal program coordinator for the DC 37 Safety and Health Dept., said: “It’s excruciatingly slow and frustrating. We’ll believe it when we see it, but we are feeling more positive.”