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EMS workers press Council for pay parity and an independent emergency medical service
Summary
EMS witnesses urged the Council to allow EMS to operate independently from FDNY or to secure pay parity, citing long response times, high attrition and mental-health crises among EMTs and paramedics. City officials cautioned about legal and operational questions; unions said third-service models work elsewhere.
Union leaders and rank-and-file EMS personnel urged the City Council to back structural or budgetary changes to address what they called an "existential" crisis in emergency medical services.
Anthony Almajera, a lieutenant paramedic and vice president of Local 36 21, summarized the unions' case: "Response times of life threatening calls are rising over 12 minutes ... EMTs and paramedics are leaving faster than we can replace them," he said, adding that the pay gap with firefighters "still exceeds 50%." He…
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