Greco says retention, not training, is the workforce crisis
Greco says FDNY may be training as many EMTs as it can, but the city is losing more EMTs and paramedics than it can replace. He says the problem is retention caused by EMS being devalued, underpaid, and under-resourced, and he compares EMT and firefighter salaries after five years.
The FDNY tells us it's training as many EMTs as capacity allows, but that should alarm this city council, not reassure it.
We are still losing more EMTs and paramedics than we can train and bring into the system.
The problem is not training new recruits.
It's retaining the EMTs and paramedics we already hired.
You cannot train your way out of a workforce crisis when you refuse to address why people are leaving.
The reason for systemic delays, staffing shortages, and long wait times facing FDNY EMS is because of the way EMS is devalued, underpaid, and under-resourced in the FDNY.
This is a result of a tale of two departments in which one of the co-equal branches of the FDNY's uniform emergency response system is not recognized as uniform and not treated equally.
The only way to solve this problem is to change policies and provide pay equity.
This is the obvious result of EMS not being provided uniform status, only being budgeted a quarter of the uniform staff while responding to 75% of the calls.
And severely underpaid is what you are seeing today.
All of the discussions about efficiency, EMS are incredibly efficient, not taking meal or bathroom breaks.
Traffic?
Traffic has always existed.
The difference now is that units have to travel further.
With less staff to get to emergencies.
And dispatch time, again, traveling longer is the result of being understaffed.
That misses the point.
An attempt to blame EMS for a systemic and cultural problem in the FDNY.
Compensation is a major part of the answer.
An EMT with five years experience earns approximately $60,000 in base salary compared with $109,000 for a firefighter of the same time.
That disparity makes recruitment more difficult and drives experienced professionals away.
These are people responding to the same emergencies, entering dangerous situations, and carrying enormous responsibility for protecting human life.
How can the city expect to retain an experienced workforce while treating these professionals as though their service is worth substantially less?