NYC ambulances take 41% longer to reach life-threatening emergencies than a decade ago, comptroller finds

New York City ambulances are taking longer to reach people in life-threatening emergencies even as those emergencies become more common, according to a report from City Comptroller Mark Levine's office described by Gothamist.

The report looked at FDNY emergency medical service data from fiscal years 2015 through 2026. Over that stretch, life-threatening medical emergencies rose more than 22%, and the FDNY's response time to them grew by 3 minutes and 50 seconds, an increase of more than 41%. Response times to calls that are not life-threatening more than doubled, Gothamist reported. A comptroller spokesperson said the office did not know why life-threatening emergencies were rising.

The city's own numbers

The trend matches the city's latest Mayor's Management Report. It showed the average ambulance response to life-threatening medical emergencies climbing from 11 minutes, 21 seconds in fiscal 2025 to 13 minutes, 9 seconds in fiscal 2026, as FDNY EMS answered more than 1.6 million medical emergencies, amNY reported.

"If it is your loved one having a heart attack, a stroke or suffering a seizure, three and a half additional minutes is an eternity," Michael Greco, president of FDNY EMS Local 2507, told amNY.

Too few ambulances on the street

The comptroller's report says the FDNY's ambulance fleet often needs maintenance, which leaves fewer units responding on a given day. On one day in January, the department had 360 ambulances in service against a daily target of 488, according to Gothamist.

Staffing is the other problem. The FDNY reported a 5% attrition rate at an October 2025 hearing, a figure the report says likely undercounts departures because it leaves out EMS workers who become firefighters. EMT salaries start near $44,000 and can top $68,000 after five and a half years, Gothamist reported, and city EMS workers earn less than comparable workers at private hospitals.

The pay fight

EMTs and paramedics have worked without a contract since 2022 because of a pay dispute. Their union wants pay and raises on par with firefighters, which the report estimates would cost more than $1 billion. Raising salaries to private-sector levels would cost the city about $352 million, according to Gothamist.

The report urges the city to "move quickly to reach a labor agreement" that brings EMS pay at least in line with the private sector, while acknowledging that pay alone won't fix response times. "The City must negotiate a new contract that provides EMTs and paramedics with competitive pay," Levine said in a statement.

FDNY spokesperson Amanda Farinacci said the department is working to lower response times by improving coordination with hospitals, working more efficiently in high-volume areas and getting units back into service faster, Gothamist reported.