The New York Post e-Edition

MEDIC! EMT ATTACKS SOARING

Violence against first responders in NYC goes up shocking 137%

By CARL CAMPANILE

They’re helping to save lives — while their own are being threatened.

Assaults and other threats leveled against emergency medical service workers are almost a daily occurrence — skyrocketing 137% from 2018 through last year, according to city data obtained exclusively by The Post.

The staggering numbers come as just last week Staten Island emergency medical technician Richard McMahon was shot in the shoulder by a drunk patient in the back of an ambulance.

The number of “workplace violence” incidents involving first responders like McMahon more than doubled from 163 in 2018 to 386 last year, evidence that ambulance crews regularly face life-threatening dangers.

The number of incidents first jumped to 217 in 2019 and then surged to 329 during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Logs reviewed by The Post show EMTS and paramedics are routinely punched, kicked, bitten, spit on and threatened by patients brandishing knives and other weapons — many emotionally disturbed or high on drugs.

“Unfortunately, it’s the world we live in. It happens much more than it’s made public,” McMahon told The Post while recovering at home after surviving the terrifying ordeal last week.

Bail-reform ‘impact’

Oren Barzilay, head of the Local 2507 union representing EMTs, paramedics and fire inspectors, blamed a worsening mental-health crisis on top of state lawmakers passing soft-on-crime policies, such as the no-cash bail law, for causing the increase in attacks on EMS workers.

“It’s disturbing to see these incidents of violence on the rise,” he said. “Bail reform has certainly had an impact.”

Queens Councilwoman Joann Ariola, who chairs the committee overseeing fire and emergency services, said tougher bail laws and beefed-up police manpower are needed to help protect ambulance crews on 911 calls.

“EMS workers have never been more at risk,” she said. “We just had an EMT who was shot.”

The city’s medics have been at the tip of the spear for both the city’s public health and crime crises. They were the first to approach and treat seriously ill COVID-19 patients during the worst of the pandemic.

The EMS workers said the most anxious moment during shifts is getting a 911 “cause unknown” call like the one McMahon received.

“It’s worrisome because you don’t know what you’re getting into. It’s our job to respond and find out what the problem is. You have to be super observant on the job,” said one EMS worker, who only gave her name as Karen.

FDNY slams assaults

The FDNY, which runs the EMS service, decried assaults against its medics.

“Any act of violence against a member of EMS is despicable. EMTs and Paramedics bravely serve New Yorkers and respond to each call with one goal — to save lives by providing outstanding emergency medical care,” Acting Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh said Sunday.

The FDNY, in a statement, said it encourages its workers to report all incidents of workplace violence, including both physical and verbal assaults, and requires officers to document the cases.

FDNY EMS also “has improved communications training and selfdefense/de-escalation training for all members, including new hires, in response to these incidents.”

The department has also released public service announcements about workplace violence, emphasizing that assaulting an EMS member is a felony.

CLINTON CONSPIRACY

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2022-05-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-23T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://nypost.pressreader.com/article/281711208264145

New York Post