Fire Engines Photos

FDNY took over the operation of NYC EMS several years ago, and it has been completely transformed.

When the decision was taken, the EMS service was a scandal. Very long response times, poorly maintained vehicles and equipment, underqualified personnel, lots of absenteeism and "goofing off", lack of discipline, and no shortage of allegations of corruption in their procurement process. Mayor Rudi Guliani, a former prosecutor, handed it over the FDNY and everything changed within an amazingly short time!

Because of this history, FDNY EMS Division still has its own stations, and ambulances are not assigned to fire stations, unlike almost all other combined departments here in the US. EMS personnel are also recruited separately, and are not trained as firefighters.

However, a recent innovation, started in Manhattan, has been to equip a number of Engine Companies as "first responders", with fully trained and qualified firefighter-EMTs on the engine and one locker dedicated to basic life support equipment. These engines do not respond to medical 911 calls instead of ambulances, but in addition - the idea being that they will often be able to get to an incident before the nearest ambulance, because the city often suffers from severe traffic congestion.

This is over and above the FDNY practice of "street staging" ambulances, whereby certain EMS units are simply parked at strategic locations between runs to await calls, which also is a way to speed up response times.

In common with many other fire departments here, one or more ambulances are always part of the first response to a reported structure fire (along with NYPD, of course.) For the record, the FDNY ambulances have been Ford F series for as long as I remember.

Added by Rob Johnson on 21 January 2014.

I should also mention, in case anyone is uncertain, that a Thawing Unit is a specially equipped van which is designed to facilitate thawing out above-ground hydrants. They are not very common, but of course they can be found in places like New York, which have very cold weather. But many departments rely on small flamethrowers carried on pumping apparatus, which avoid the need to call in a specialist unit.

Added by Rob eo on 21 January 2014.

Thanks, Rob. Great information there! I remember reading that NY EMS used to be a separate organization, and I initially found it quite confusing when I was told that FDNY EMS units still had separate stations. You have cleared this up for me, but even though they may not be trained as firefighters, they are still issued with turnout gear and structural helmets.

Added by Tiger on 21 January 2014.

FDNY took over the EMS in 1996.
The most recent ambulances for FDNY are on DODGE RAM 4- door chassis.

Added by Warren W. Jenkins on 21 January 2014.

This thawing unit is actually stationed with Engine 76 and Ladder 22 in Manhattan.

Added by Bill on 22 January 2014.

Thanks for that, Bill. Sorry everyone, I misread the number on the side.

Added by Tiger on 26 January 2014.

Tiger - many US fire departments equip their EMS crews with protective gear and helmets for use at dangerous incidents where they may be called on to enter wreckage or fire buildings.

Added by Rob Johnson on 26 January 2014.

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