AMSTERDAM, N.Y. — The Amsterdam Fire Department, which has used firefighters to staff ambulance calls since taking over the city’s EMS service in 2017, is temporarily using non-firefighter EMTs and paramedics to help cover those calls while newly hired firefighters complete their training.
“It takes approximately 18 months to train a firefighter all the way up to the paramedic level,” Chief Anthony Agresta told News10. “Firefighters go away for 16 weeks to the fire academy and then after that, they have a year of schooling to get to the paramedic level.”
| DOWNLOAD: What Paramedics Want in 2026
Agresta said the temporary staffing arrangement has already allowed the department to maintain fire coverage while handling multiple EMS calls. During one weekend structure fire, non-firefighter EMS personnel handled two medical calls, allowing the department to send two fire trucks with four firefighters instead of one truck with two.
The department responds to more than 400 fire and EMS calls each month.
“It benefits, really, both of us,” EMT Aiden Bowerman told News10. “It’s more patient contact for us to improve in the field that we work in and it’s better for the firemen as well. They get to focus more on the fire side and do more training, and it just relieves them from having to be on the rescue all day long.”
Agresta said the EMS positions could also serve as a pathway for EMTs and paramedics considering fire service careers, giving them experience providing EMS in a fire department setting.
The department currently has 32 firefighters, with four recruits in training that will bring staffing to 36. Its EMS division includes six EMTs and six paramedics, with additional hiring underway.
Is cross-training firefighters for EMS still the right approach, or does bringing in non-firefighter EMTs and paramedics make more sense for staffing? Share with us below.
