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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by David Cook, Lieutenant of Fire Department of New York City (FDNY) Emergency Medical Services
5:02:54
·
3 min
David Cook, a lieutenant with FDNY EMS, passionately advocates for better pay and working conditions for EMTs and paramedics. He emphasizes the critical role they play in saving lives and the struggles they face due to low wages and long hours.
- Cook highlights his 17 years of service and his role as a former paramedic instructor
- He stresses the need for politicians to fulfill their promises and take action on pay parity
- Cook discusses the mental health challenges and financial struggles faced by EMTs and paramedics, including those supporting families
David Cook
5:02:54
Thank you.
5:02:54
Great job.
5:02:56
Great job.
5:02:59
First off, I want to say good afternoon to everybody in this room.
5:03:03
I hope everybody has a good day, and I also want to just give thanks to God and thanks to Jesus Christ.
5:03:07
I wanna thank you guys for hearing my testimony and my comrade.
5:03:11
My name is David Cook.
5:03:13
I'm a lieutenant with the fire department, New York City EMS.
5:03:16
I worked seventeen years with the fire department, and to be honest with you, I really deserve more than two minutes because I put my life on the line saving every person in New York City, every borough, nonstop doing countless hours of overtime.
5:03:27
You see, I'm a paramedic and I'm also a former paramedic instructor which means I trained a lot of young EMTs and paramedics to do great fieldwork in the streets.
5:03:35
You see, Michael Finneran was one of my instructors and he called when I was a young EMT, twenty one year old kid on the job, superhero.
5:03:42
And I I learned very quickly that every superhero, and I'm gonna use Superman as the analogy, that even Superman deserves to go home to Lois Lane and, can be Clark Clint, Clark Kent, and live live his life normal.
5:03:57
And that goes for every man and woman in the fire department, EMS.
5:04:00
The pay is so low, everybody's doing countless overtime.
5:04:03
You have mothers struggling by themselves.
5:04:05
They're struggling by themselves taking care of one, two, three, four, five kids.
5:04:09
We need you guys to vote on money.
5:04:11
Listen.
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How do you want the superheroes to save the firemen, the police officers when they go in dangerous buildings?
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Who's who think is gonna save them?
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The paramedics and EMTs?
5:04:20
I'm speaking for everybody.
5:04:21
I'm also vice president of operations of a nonprofit organization called EMS PAC.
5:04:26
We have about 12,000 followers, and we educate the public, and all we promote is pay parity.
5:04:30
So, yeah, we need everybody to stop saying you're gonna do something and actually do something.
5:04:34
I testified here in 2020.
5:04:37
Right here, this says New York's best.
5:04:40
When I got this jacket done, it says New York best.
5:04:43
That's that's what FDNY EMS is.
5:04:45
So I wanna figure out why we gotta sit here and negotiate and waste time on when to pay us.
5:04:50
Let's cut let's cut the nonsense and mayor Adams made promises.
5:04:53
He didn't live up to it.
5:04:54
A lot of these politicians been in office, they didn't live up to it.
5:04:57
So I'm tired of the games.
5:04:58
The truth is all of EMTs and paramedics are struggling.
5:05:01
You have men suffering through mental health.
5:05:03
They're paying child support.
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They're struggling to take care of their kids.
5:05:06
I'm a keep going.
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I deserve that.
5:05:08
I earned that.
5:05:09
I sit there and intubate patients when they go into cardiac arrest.
5:05:12
I stick IVs in patients arms and give them medication.
5:05:15
I bring the dead back to life in New York City.
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You're gonna hear me when I talk.
5:05:20
That's a fact.
5:05:21
I speak for all the EMTs and paramedics.
5:05:23
You're gonna respect me.
5:05:25
That's a fact.
5:05:27
I got the internal affairs in the fire department chasing EMTs and paramedics out of bathrooms and taking their money for nonsense in FDNY EMS.
5:05:38
FDNY EMS dictates when hospital nine one one are gonna get their salary increased.
5:05:43
So if you don't increase the EMTs and paramedic salary in the fire department, the rest of them gotta suffer.
5:05:48
So who's gonna have the kahunas to do what they gotta do?
5:05:51
I gotta keep coming back here.
5:05:53
My name's David Jesse Cook.
5:05:57
Thank you.