The coronavirus's greater demand on emergency services increased the Fire Department's response time to life-threatening medical emergencies by nearly a minute, according to the Mayor's Management Report.
The time elapsed from when a call came in to a dispatcher until an FDNY ambulance arrived on the scene, went from an average of 9:22 in fiscal 2019 to 10:19 in the fiscal year that ended June 30. For historical context, 15 years ago, the average response time was 6:47. The latest spike in response times did not come as a surprise to Oren Barzilay, president of DC 37's Local 2507, which represents Emergency Medical Technicians and Fire Inspectors.
"This validates my recent comments that we are seriously understaffed," Mr. Barzilay said during a phone interview. "Members are leaving in droves like never before. The situation is only going to get worse due to lower wages because of the structural inequality our members face."