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Q&A
Impact of EMS to firefighter promotional exams on EMS staffing
1:33:58
ยท
147 sec
Commissioner Tucker discusses the impact of EMS to firefighter promotional exams on EMS staffing levels. While the exams provide a career path for EMTs and paramedics, they also create staffing challenges for the EMS division.
- The next three promotional classes into the fire academy will mostly consist of EMTs and paramedics
- About 3,500 people applied for the exam, with an expected 10% (350) becoming EMTs
- The department faces a staffing gap as more EMS personnel move to firefighter roles than new EMTs are recruited
- There is a national crisis in EMS recruiting, making it difficult to replace those moving to fire operations
Joann Ariola
1:33:58
Right.
1:33:59
That's a problem.
1:34:00
Okay.
1:34:04
We're going to talk about the promotional exams.
1:34:07
So what impact has EMS to firefighter promotional exams had on EMS staffing levels?
1:34:15
And how does FDNY plan to address any resulting headcount gaps?
1:34:20
And I know that we have classes coming out, so I was very happy to hear that.
1:34:24
And the amount of people who have applied, thank you for mentioning that, is astounding.
1:34:29
So I imagine that is one way that you're working towards closing those gaps.
Christopher Leon Johnson
1:34:34
Yeah.
Robert Tucker
1:34:37
So the next three promotional classes into the fire academy are almost exclusively going to be EMTs and paramedics coming from those ranks.
1:34:53
As you heard from Commissioner Noonan, we recruited about 3,500 people to take the test.
1:35:05
Ultimately it's our experience that about ten percent of those people will end up becoming EMTs.
1:35:14
So that's about three fifty.
1:35:17
You don't have to be an economics major to figure out that one thousand out and three fifty in leaves a gap.
1:35:23
And so we're concerned about that, no doubt.
1:35:32
And we're thinking about ways to fill that gap.
1:35:38
And I'm working closely with the members of the senior staff both in fire ops and EMS ops to figure out what to do about that.
1:35:48
We don't think that the path from EMS to fire is a bad one.
1:35:57
So I don't want anyone to interpret what I'm saying that in some way that that's not right.
1:36:04
But there's no doubt that we have a crisis nationally in EMS recruiting and we're not going to just be able to replace the firefighters or the EMTs and paramedics who are going over to the fire ops in the traditional methods that we have in the past.