NYC response times for ‘life-threatening’ emergencies surge in troubling trend

Response times for FDNY ambulances and fire companies during life-threatening emergencies jumped again last year, according to Mayor Eric Adams’ management report.

Dispatch and travel time to life-threatening medical emergencies for both increased 22 seconds compared to Fiscal Year 2024, from 7 minutes and 23 seconds to 7 minutes and 45 seconds, the new data shows.

“This metric has increased steadily at a similar rate for the last four fiscal years,” the Fire Department said.

Response times to life-threatening medical emergencies by ambulances alone increased 29 seconds — a 4% increase — from 10 minutes and 52 seconds to 11 minutes and 21 seconds.

The response time was 9 minutes and 34 second in fiscal year 2021.

Fire company response times to life threatening emergencies jump 5 seconds, from 9 minutes and 37 seconds in FY 2024 to 9 minutes and 42 seconds last year.

That’s up from 8 minutes and 29 seconds from fiscal year 2021.

The fiscal year runs from July 1 to June 30.

In one positive development, the average turnaround time that ambulances spent at hospitals dropped ten seconds year-to-year — from 40 minutes and 50 seconds to 40 minutes and 40 seconds.

Meanwhile, cases of life-threatening care has skyrocketed. Critical care patients who received advanced life supporting treatments jumped from 117,269 in FY 2024 to 133,789 in FY 2025.

“Each year a substantial and increasing number of life-saving interventions are performed by EMS including asthma patients receiving nebulized medications, allergic patients receiving epinephrine injections, and patients with stroke or myocardial infarction (heart attack) being transported to specialized treatment centers,” the FDNY said.

At the same time, the average number of hours that ambulances in service has dropped by 3 percent and the number of reported life-threatening medical emergency incidents dropped from 633,361 in fiscal year 2024 to 620,467 in the FY 2025 fiscal year that ended June 30.

The union representing paramedics and EMTS blamed staffing shortages triggered by low pay as partly responsible for the disturbing jump in emergency response times.

“Ambulance response times rising across the board come as no surprise to every FDNY EMT and paramedic. This has been a growing systemic crisis for the world’s busiest medical first responder agency,” said Oren Barzilay, president of EMS Local 2507 representing 4,000 paramedics and EMTs.

He claimed a staggering staff attrition rate of 70%.

City Hall and FDNY said they’re grappling to rein in higher emergency response times, blaming much of it on traffic and higher call volumes, rather than staffing woes.

“While the increase in emergency response times is the result of several factors beyond our control, including a drastic increase in outer-borough traffic congestion and higher call volumes, we continue to address this issue by improving coordination with hospitals, enhancing efficiency in high-volume areas, and leveraging telehealth technology to streamline care,” the statement released by the mayor’s office said.