By Kathleen Lucadamo
Daily News (New York)
Copyright 2008 Daily News

NEW YORK — City residents hoping for a disaster-free summer have even more reason to hope they get their wish - there will be fewer Emergency Medical Technicians to respond if something happens.

In a city smarting from a shortage of police recruits, Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta revealed Thursday the city will be down 121 EMTs by the end of June - roughly 7% of the 1,900-member force.

"It's a hard position to fill. It requires a lot of training, but we continue to recruit aggressively," he told a City Council budget hearing.

He predicted the remaining EMTs will cash in on overtime to fill the gap, meaning the city will spend more than the $20 million banked for overtime.

EMTs earn between $27,295 to $31,979 annually, a lower range than most of their civil service counterparts. They haven't had a raise in nearly two years.

"We are doing overtime every day," said Pat Bahnken, the president of the Uniformed EMTs, Paramedics and Inspectors.

He estimates units are running at 80% capacity and need at least 150 EMTs to bring it to 100%. But turnover, he said, hovers at 20%.

"If you can make another $20,000 a year being a sanitation officer, a cop or a firefighter, people are going to leave," Bahnken said.

Starting salary for firefighters is $36,400 and after five years, they can earn up to $86,518. Police, who are also locked in a contract war, collect between $25,100 and $59,588.

Scoppetta said higher salaries for EMTs would help fill vacancies.

"It's obviously an incentive to come on the job if you pay better salaries. They start at $27,000/$28,000 and it's a demanding job. Anything we can do to make the job more attractive, we'd be in favor of," he told reporters.

A report released by the Journal of Emergency Services last year found that basic EMTs across the country earned between $18,354 to $65,840.