What will it take?

To the editor:

What does it take to get action?  In 2013 a little girl was hit by a car while crossing the street with her grandmother.  She died of her injuries.  Because it took 8 minutes for an ambulance to reach her, the NYC Council passed the "Ariel Russo Response Time Reporting Act" 49 to 0.

That Council included:  Brad Lander, current NYC Comptroller and mayoral candidate; Jumaane Williams, current NYC Public Advocate; current Council Member Gale Brewer, Chair of the Committee on Oversight and Investigations; current Council Member James Gennaro, Member of the Committee on Fire and Emergency Management; and the NYS Attorney General Letitia James. 

A Council Member said, ". . . the fire department, the mayor’s office, and the council will have more accurate information to ensure that the scarce resources are allocated efficiently. . ."

Then Council Speaker Christine Quinn said, “Obviously, every minute, every second counts in this kind of a tragedy.  This bill will honor Ariel’s memory . . . so if and when accidents like [this] happen again, we’re quicker to respond to, god-willing, to save the lives of those who are injured.”  

But years of monthly 911 reports haven't resulted in any NYC mayor, city council, or FDNY boss improving Emergency Medical Services response times to New Yorkers' life-threatening emergencies.  In the month Ariel's law was enacted, the average city-wide response time by Advanced Life-Support Ambulances to such emergencies was 9 minutes and 29 seconds.  Last month, paramedics arrived almost 4 minutes later than that.

It seems that the ever-increasing EMS response times are only a problem for the patients who die waiting for help, and for the mental health of those patients' families and that of the too few FDNY Emergency Medical Technicians and paramedics, who dread that they are arriving too late to help.

Helen Northmore