A bill that would compel the New York City Department of Emergency Management to issue emergency notifications any time the FDNY's EMS service has more than 25 pending ambulance dispatches was introduced this month. Proposed by City Council Member Joann Ariola, chair of the Council's Committee on Fire and Emergency Management, the legislation aims to highlight the city's reliance on a hollowed-out EMS workforce and its inability to contend with skyrocketing call volume.
“If there are dozens of emergency calls sitting in a queue because there simply aren’t enough ambulances available to answer them, New Yorkers have a right to know,” Ariola said in a statement after introducing the bill Aug. 13. “We issue alerts for severe weather, air quality, flooding and other emergencies because information allows people to make better decisions. An EMS backlog should be no different."
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