FDNY Doesn't Understand Economics

Another story about rising 911 response times in a major city. What's behind increase in 911 response times - ABC7 New York

This article is mostly about EMS and ambulance response times. You can click thru for the details, and there are a lot. Including more calls coming in, worse traffic (no mention of any bike lanes - I guess NYC didn't remove traffic lanes for bike lanes in the city) and long waits at hospitals to transfer patients.

The bottom line is that people suffering and even dying as a result.

But there were two statements that caught my attention.

With a starting pay between $18 and $20 dollars an hour, they've had a hard time keeping EMS workers on the job.

Can you even live on $40,000 in New York? And since they state that there are not enough EMS responders, how much overtime are they booking? That does increase your pay, but it also can lead to burn out.

And then there is this:

They're launching pilot programs to try and speed up the process and launched what they're calling a comprehensive examination into the entire EMS process.

I'll save them the money on their "comprehensive" study of the problem. They need to raise the pay for EMS employees. Probably by a lot.

I would also bet there is some way that FDNY is treating EMS like the red-headed stepchild. But that is only a guess.

Minimum wage in NYC is $16. It will got $16.50 on January first. That means you can make almost as much at McDonald's as you can as an EMT and you are not dealing with the stress of life and death. I would bet you also have more control over your hours worked.

So. You admit that pay is an issue, yet can't admit you need to change the pay. Do you want to solve this problem, or do you want the system to collapse on itself?