THE CHIEF

EMS Unions Say Staff And Fire Unit Cuts Will Hurt
Meeting With FDNY Brass

 
By ARI PAUL

February 20, 2009

Discussions of the budget cuts in the Fire Department have focused on fire company closings and canceled Fire Academy classes, but the Emergency Medical Service unions are also fuming about proposed operational cuts affecting their members.

In order to meet Mayor Bloomberg's austere spending targets unveiled last month, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta proposed cutting 30 ambulance lines and nine supervisory lines by July.

Bahnken: Won't Listen to Us

FDNY officials were set to meet with the two uniformed EMS response unions Feb. 17, the day this newspaper hit stands, to discuss operational cuts, but Local 2507 of District Council 37 President Patrick J. Bahnken, who represents Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics, came into the meeting with low hopes for consensus between management and labor.

"It's like they're a one-trick pony: it's just cut," he said of the department in a phone interview. "I don't know if it's hubris or arrogance. They are just unwilling to entertain opinions they didn't come up with themselves."

Tom Eppinger, who as president of Local 3621 of DC 37 represents EMS officers, said that EMS responders will be less safe on the job with the loss of 16 fire companies, which also assist in medical response.

"If they cut [ladder] companies, it's going to take longer times to get to the person that needs us, because we call fire suppression," he said, explaining that ladder company firefighters are summoned when EMS members cannot get past a physical barrier to reach a victim.

Safety in Numbers

He continued, "Engine company closings mean if there's a certain type of emergency, the person is not going to have the benefit of the certified first-responders from the engine company. That also encompasses a safety issue because we go into locations that are dangerous, and it's great to be in the company of many instead of few."

Mr. Eppinger also lamented the proposal to cut 32 administrative support lines.

"A lot of these people are doing things to advance us in the future," he said of the civilian employees.

He feared that the cuts on both the fire and EMS sides of the department would result in longer medical response times citywide, coupled with the problem that the number of medical emergencies tends to rise during economic downturns because there is more drug use and crime and fewer people who can afford preventative health care.

'Cuts Will Cost Lives'

"[Mr. Bahnken] has over 20 years, I'm making my 20th year, and we started when it was bad," Mr. Eppinger said. "But it shouldn't be like that now. We should be providing care in a timely fashion."

He believed the cuts were inevitable, but hoped going into this week's meeting that the department took the advice of the two union leaders to reduce some of the cutbacks.

"We're willing to talk and we're willing to do what it takes, but not at the expense of the members of the public," Mr. Eppinger said. "The only thing that cuts are going to do is cost lives."