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FULL: Mamdani, FDNY officials update on Queens apartment fire
The early-morning fire tore through a Queens home, spread toward nearby buildings and caused part of the roof to collapse, drawing more than 270 FDNY firefighters and EMS personnel.
NEW YORK - The president of EMS Local 2507 said that over one third of the city's emergency medical technicians and paramedics could leave this year.
1,500 ‘projected to quit’
What we know:
President Oren Barzilay said at a New York City Council budget hearing regarding the FDNY that 1,500 medical first responders are "projected to quit the service in 2026."
EMTs wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) carry a patient into Elmhurst Hospital Center in the Queens borough of New York, U.S., on Tuesday, April 14, 2020. If the city is to reduce and maintain low-level transmission, testing will be crucial …
The municipal sector of the FDNY currently has 4,300 EMTs and paramedics.
"The strain on our EMS ranks is real," Barzilay said during the hearing, "and it is made worse by the staggering pay disparities our EMS heroes are forced to endure."
Dig deeper:
According to the FDNY's recruitment website, these are the starting salaries for different EMS members in the FDNY:
- EMT starting salary – $43,932 to $49,816
- EMS trainee starting salary – $36,330
- Paramedic starting salary – $58,088 to $63,974
The Source: This article includes information from a New York City Council budget hearing.