Your guide to NYC's public proceedings.
Q&A
Designating OCME vehicles as emergency vehicles
4:06:32
ยท
124 sec
Council Member Lynn Schulman raises the issue of OCME vehicles being ineligible for designation as emergency vehicles, which causes delays in reaching decedents and returning to headquarters. Chief Medical Examiner Jason Graham explains the efforts to change this designation and its potential benefits.
- OCME is working with the administration to amend the New York State vehicle and traffic law to recognize medical examiner vehicles as emergency vehicles.
- Designation as emergency vehicles would allow OCME to respond to scenes more quickly across all five boroughs.
- Faster response times would provide better service to families and allow other responding units (EMS, NYPD) to return to service more quickly.
- The designation is also important for OCME's role in responding to mass fatality incidents.
Lynn Schulman
4:06:32
OCME's cars are currently ineligible to be designated.
4:06:35
We've had this conversation.
4:06:36
As emergency vehicles with alarms attached to reach the destination quickly, this has resulted in delays with both OCME's ability to reach the decedent and their ability to return to the headquarters.
4:06:46
What criteria would OCME cause need to meet to be eligible to be designated as emergency vehicles?
Jason Graham
4:06:54
Well, we're certainly a response agency.
4:06:59
When EMS, fire department, NYPD respond and there is a death involved in the field, OSCEMI is also a responder.
4:07:09
And there are, according to the New York State vehicle and traffic laws, there are designated emergency response vehicles.
4:07:18
At the moment, the medical examiner vehicles do not have such designation.
4:07:22
And so we're working with the administration and we certainly appreciate the support of the council and your support, Chair Schulman, in this regard in terms of our attempt to amend the New York State vehicle and traffic law to recognize medical examiner vehicles in this way.
4:07:44
This will allow us to respond to scenes more quickly.
4:07:48
We are a relatively small agency compared to those much larger response agencies.
4:07:54
And yet we have responses that are required across all five boroughs.
4:07:58
And the ability for us to respond more quickly will not only provide better service to the families, but it'll also provide the ability of those responding units on the part of EMS and NYPD to be back in service much more quickly.
4:08:13
We also have a response responsibility, I should say, in the event of a mass fatality incident.
4:08:22
We're a lead agency with respect to dealing with mass fatality incidents in the city, and the ability to quickly respond is important.
4:08:31
And so we're hopeful that we will be successful in that attempt to get