By Ginger Adams Otis
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — The city’s 911 emergency call center needs an infusion of operators — stat!
Staffing is critically low among dispatchers handling emergency medical calls — forcing the FDNY to impose mandatory overtime and pull operators from one shift to cover others. Refusing the mandatory overtime comes with a stiff penalty — loss of one to four days’ pay — which is legal because EMS workers are considered emergency personnel. The code red doesn’t bode well for the summer, when EMS call volume usually surges to more than 4,000 calls per day from the usual 3,000 to 3,500 calls per day.
The code red doesn’t bode well for the summer, when EMS call volume usually surges to more than 4,000 calls per day from the usual 3,000 to 3,500 calls per day. A Daily News review shows dozens of unfilled operator slots across all three eight-hour shifts — with some shifts dropping into the single digits despite FDNY regulations requiring 23 operators per shift.
Full story: New York’s 911 emergency call center suffering major shortage of operators