Almojera documents more than 100 ambulances out of service daily

Good afternoon, Chairperson and members of the City Council.

Thank you, Chairperson Abriola, for having us, as always.

My name is Anthony Almagera.

I am a lieutenant with FDNY EMS for 23 years and vice president of Local 3621, representing the officers of FDNY EMS.

I will reiterate, we have been left at the altar, but I would argue we've never even been asked for our hand in marriage by the city.

I would like to be left at the altar to get to that point, but we've never been there.

But unfortunately, we and I would like to thank you all for your time today.

But unfortunately, we and EMS do not have any more time.

And more importantly, neither do the people of New York City who call 911 expecting someone to come and save their lives.

I want to begin by reading some numbers from this past week, which I've been documenting.

These are the numbers of ambulances out of service across New York City at 2 p.m.

Each day.

Starting on October 11th, Sunday, 138 ambulances.

Monday, 89 ambulances.

Tuesday, 92 ambulances.

Wednesday, 68 ambulances.

Thursday, 94 ambulances.

Friday, 101 ambulances.

And Saturday...

10, 17, 122 ambulances.

Seven days, seven snapshots of a system struggling to put ambulances on the street.

And right now, as I'm speaking to you, I asked somebody to send me the numbers.

We are 112 ambulances off service and 51 calls in holding.

The majority are over three hours, as I'm speaking to you right now.

That's an average of more than 100 ambulances out of service at 2 o'clock in the afternoon.

These aren't numbers on a spreadsheet to us who are working them.

These are ambulances that aren't responding to emergencies.

These are resources that New Yorkers cannot count on when they need them.