New York City emergency response teams set record-slow response times due to congestion: report

"People will die because of this traffic issue," said EMS Union President Oren Barzilay. Barzilay says delivery trucks and bike planes are part of the problem, but congestion tops them all. "You go into biological death after six minutes," he said. "If the response time is over 10 minutes for those types of calls, your next option for our crews is probably you take them to the morgue."

September 23, 2024 Local 2507 Local 2507 in the News, Member Update Comments Off on New York City emergency response teams set record-slow response times due to congestion: report

ABC 7

Anthony Carlo | Friday, September 20, 2024

MIDTOWN, Manhattan (WABC) — The difference between life and death could come down to crucial minutes, which makes a new report on emergency response times in New York City so alarming.

According to the report, the city has set records for how slow they are, and it’s due to increased congestion.

The traffic nightmare that is Midtown and Lower Manhattan is nothing new to New Yorkers, and with the United Nations General Assembly on deck next week, it’s expected to get worse.

But the new report says that even the daily crawl has gotten a lot worse.

Former New York City Traffic Commissioner Sam Schwartz found the average speed in Midtown is the slowest in over half a century, at 4.8 mph.

He says those waiting for an ambulance are suffering the most.

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