NEW YORK (PIX11) \u2014 For nearly 30 years, New York City firefighters and paramedics have operated under one roof.<\/p>\n
But there\u2019s a new push to separate the FDNY from EMS. While some officials believe it would save lives, others fear it will end up costing taxpayers.<\/p>\n
More Local News <\/a><\/p>\n City EMS leaders warn they\u2019re hemorrhaging members to the FDNY and want a divorce.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve doubled the call volume, we haven\u2019t doubled the workforce,\u201d union vice president and EMS Lt. Anthony Almojera testified before City Council members Thursday.<\/p>\n He\u2019s backing a proposal to split the uniformed services as they operated prior to 1996. In short, he says New Yorkers would be safer with an independent agency.<\/p>\n \u201cFive to 8,000 members, pay parity, equipment to have enough ambulances run 24 hours,\u201d Lt. Almojera said.<\/p>\n Pay parity is their priority. Currently, the average salary for EMTs is $60,000, while firefighters earn double that amount.<\/p>\n Council Member Justin Brannan is sponsoring the bill to break off the agencies.<\/p>\n Make PIX11 your preferred news source on Google: Here\u2019s how <\/a><\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re putting your life on the line, you should get a living wage and not work two to three jobs,\u201d Brannan said.<\/p>\n The staff of 4,100 EMS members, with veterans having five years on the job, is inadequate, they say.\u00a0 Testimony revealed it is leading to an eye-popping 12-minute response time for average medical emergencies.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I don\u2019t get you in the first six minutes of cardiac arrest, the chance of survival drops 80 percent,\u201d Lt. Almojera said.<\/p>\n To the criticism, the outgoing FDNY Commissioner said it\u2019s a problem he\u2019s focused on.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we talk about response times, our failure is managing them because of the limited resources we have.\u201d<\/p>\n Tucker pushed back against the bill and believes separating the two would create more inefficiency and redundancies.<\/p>\n \u201cForcing a divorce of fire and EMS services would have unintended consequences that would make our members and the public less safe,\u201d Tucker said.<\/p>\n