This is post #1 in a series. You can read post #2 here.

The alternate title of this post was “The Post When All The Vollies Cry Foul And Want My Head On A Spike“. Why would that be the case? Because the truth can hurt.

There was recently an article in the New York Post regarding the decision of the FDNY to remove NYC Volunteer EMS Agencies from their computer aided dispatch (CAD) system. I caught word of the article through an e-mail and then there was a post on it from Firegeezer.

So let’s look at what the claims being made are and what the truth actually is:

The Fire Department has booted the city’s volunteer ambulance companies from its emergency 911 system, The Post has learned. – NY Post Article

Truthfulness of Statement: False

The vollies have not been booted from the NYC 911 system, because they were never IN the NYC 911 system. Volunteer agencies have their own “hotline” phone numbers, have their own dispatchers, and their own run numbering systems. They are separate entities that do have a mutual aid agreement with the NYC 911 system lead agency, FDNY.

“They call us all the time. If not through their system, they call us on the mutual-aid radio system or just call us directly,” said Gunning, who also heads the Glendale Volunteer crew. – NY Post Article

Truthfulness of Statement: True and False

During the days of NYC*EMS, they maintained the Mutual Aid Radio System (MARS). This system gave each volunteer agency a radio designation based on their borough of service, so a 93 unit was from Brooklyn and a 94 unit was from Queens. It’s true that back in the days of NYC*EMS the vollies were called over the radio, but ever since FDNY inherited this system they did absolutely nothing more with it and THIS is what FDNY is actually ceasing operations of.

“If it weren’t for us, patient wait times would often be much longer. We get called in when the FDNY doesn’t have an ambulance to send. This change comes at the patient’s expense,” said Alan Wolfe, president of the Forest Hills Volunteer Corps. – NY Post Article

Truthfulness of Statement: True and False

The truth is that the NYC vollies generally respond to calls they hear over the NYPD radio or the FDNY BEMS radio. Yes, the truth is the volunteers “buff” or “jump” calls that are dialed into 911. Their response however does NOT mean there is no available unit. In fact, more often than not, the assigned unit responding continues in even though a vollie unit has decided to respond.

It is true that more often than not the volunteers WILL get to the scene faster than the assigned unit. This is for a number of reasons:

• The volunteers are traditionally very knowledgeable of their specific geographic location
• The volunteers are often already in the area whereas the assigned unit may be coming from an out of the area post or hospital
• The volunteers have a burning desire to get there first… which can be both good and bad

As for the expense of the patient… financially speaking volunteers do the job for free, but the vast majority of the agencies will still bill the patient’s insurance.

The medics who ride the units all have the same qualifications and certifications that any other medic units have. Many of the volunteers, in fact, are off-duty FDNY medics. – Firegeezer

Truthfulness of Statement: More False than True

First let’s clarify the term “medic” here is used very loosely. Out of the 35 (and I question that number too) reported agencies in NYC, I can think of only 3 or 4 that are providing ALS. Everyone else is a BLS agency using BLS providers.

Additionally, while the state certifications are the same, many of the volunteers are NOT employed with FDNY. In fact for that matter I think FDNY employees are the minority of the volunteers. I believe there is a far greater number of EMS professionals employed by both hospitals and privates volunteering their time than the municipal workers.

The volunteer squads are not only saving the city a lot of money, but they are seriously reducing response times in many instances. – Firegeezer

Truthfulness of Statement: False

The volunteer squads do not save the city ANY money. It is true the squads do not receive tax funding, but their existence does not decrease the budget in any one place. As for the response times, technically since the vollies are not in the system that measures response times (and haven’t been) they are in fact statistically not reducing any response times either.

In Conclusion… To Be Continued

In conclusion, there is no change to the status of the NYC volunteer agencies, because they are in all reality irrelevant to the emergency response in New York City.

But does it have to be that way? Are the NYC volunteers destined to close their doors and be a footnote in the history of emergency care in the city?

I say no. It doesn’t have to be that way. In my next post I’m going to explain the current volunteer system and what is wrong with it, and in my third post I will explain how (in my opinion) the volunteers can fix it.

Full Disclosure: I am a member of the Forest Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corps in Forest Hills, Queens and have been a member of that Corps since 1994