Omar Muhammad testifies calling for independent EMS department

Good afternoon, Chair Shahana Hanif, Susan Wang, and Linda Lee.

Really appreciate you guys.

You do tremendous work for the city, and thank you for giving us some of your time.

My name is Omar Muhammad, and for five years, I worked as a first responder from 2017 to 2021.

I worked the front lines across Staten Island, South Brooklyn, throughout the city.

I experienced firsthand how our healthcare system cracked under pressure, but our first responders did not.

The raw disparity we faced on the streets mirrors institutional abandonment baked into our city budget for decades.

Medical emergencies now drive nearly 70% of all FDNY runs, yet barely 20% of the department budget is allocated to EMS.

We face the exact same biohazards, the same physical trauma, and the same life-threatening dangers unseen as fire suppression.

But our pay and our future are treated as afterthoughts.

While top paid firefighters after five years earn roughly $110, veteran EMTs and paramedics max out at a fraction of that.

Forcing thousands of experienced lifesavers to work punishing double shifts or flee the job entirely just to afford rent in the city we protect.

We carry the same weight and we deserve to be paid what we are worth.

That is why I'm calling on the City Council to create an independent Department of EMS with full pay parity,

giving us direct budget control, dedicated medical leadership, and the resources we deserve, ensuring that our city finally gets a professional emergency medical service that values the lives of its workers just as much as the lives they save.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Is there anyone?