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The City Council passed two bills Thursday that aim to better protect Fire Department of New York emergency medical service workers from violence on the job.
The bills, both sponsored by Council Minority Leader Joseph Borelli of Staten Island, would require the FDNY to provide employees with body armor, de-escalation and self-defense training. Borelli told Crain’s the legislation is necessary because the number of attacks on EMS workers is steadily growing. According to the fire department, there were 363 attacks on emergency medical technicians and paramedics in 2022, more than double the amount in 2018. EMS workers responded to just over 30,000 life-threatening medical emergencies in fiscal 2023.
“I don’t know if we could have prevented these incidents,” Borelli said. “But I can tell you for certain that these types of incidents will happen again. And these folks should not be an afterthought. They’re a critical part of our first responding system.”
According to the text of one bill, the de-escalation training would help workers recognize and understand signs of mental illness and distress, communicate effectively with individuals they respond to and ease conflict. The department would need to offer the training at least once per calendar year.
The other piece of legislation, Borelli said, would ensure the body armor meets ballistic and stab resistance standards. Employees would be prohibited from keeping the armor after they left the FDNY or moved to a position that didn’t require emergency medical work. According to the bill’s fiscal impact statement, the body armor would not have any impact on the department’s revenue or expenditures because the agency would use existing resources for the EMTs.
Peter Spencer, a representative for Borelli’s office, added that the FDNY already does some self-defense training and has some vests available, but they are not always new or up to standard. He added that the agency supports the legislation; FDNY representatives declined to comment. At a hearing in February, Oren Barzilay, a veteran of FDNY emergency medical services and president of a union that represents the workers, urged the committee to pass the legislation as attacks increased.
Both bills will now move to Mayor Eric Adams for approval. They would both take effect immediately after becoming law and the armor would need to be provided within one year after that date.
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Jacqueline Neber , 2024-04-12 11:33:05
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