amNY
By Barbara Russo-Lennon | March 18, 2025
FDNY EMTs are facing a series of staffing issues five years after the start of the COVID-19 pandemic when their life-saving efforts were invaluable for people around the city, a local union head said on Tuesday.
The city’s medical first responders at FDNY EMS are handling a dramatic increase in emergencies and experiencing a 15.4% spike in responses since the start of the pandemic in 2020. With a strained workforce and employees earning just above minimum wage, their union has one message for the public: “Do not take this job.”
Meanwhile, the public suffers as emergency response time continues to creep up each year due to not enough staff or tours, explained FDNY EMT Local 2507 President Oren Barzilay.
Since work has gotten strained for EMTs—who make just $18.94/hour, which is less than delivery app workers—Barzilay is calling for the public to not join the FDNY until City Hall provides pay parity for EMS members on par with other first responders in New York City.
“Things in this agency are spiraling out of control,” the union leader attested. “Everybody portrays the FDNY as a great agency we work for, but in reality it’s a disgrace when it comes to the men and women of EMS. We are so poorly treated by the city of New York when it comes to our wages. It’s no wonder why every day two people resign.”