Kudos to the New York State Department of Health State Emergency Medical Services Council on the release of this report.

It depicts a dire state of the EMS workforce, and agencies, in New York.

This is a model initiative that other states should undertake to further illustrate the EMS workforce and economic crisis.

Findings of note in the report:

"The number of active certified EMS responders in New York has declined by 17.5% from 2019 to 2022, according to the NYS Department of Health Division of State Emergency Medical Services."

"The total number of ambulance services in NYS has decreased by 9% over the past 10 years from 1,078 to 982."

"58.4% of NYS EMS agencies indicated that the decline in number of certified responders diminished their ability to cover calls or scheduled shifts."

"62% of EMS leadership respondents had an unfavorable outlook on their agency’s ability to recruit enough certified EMS responders to adequately serve the community in the future."

"When asked about their reasons for planning to leave EMS, respondents cited inadequate pay/benefits (65.7%) and the availability of better job opportunities outside of EMS (51.3%) as two primary factors contributing to their decisions."

"The combined data and findings underscore critical challenges in the EMS sector, especially the severe and growing career and volunteer workforce shortage, the need for adequate and stable EMS funding and payment rates, and the importance of improving compensation and benefits and creating attractive career pathways to retain EMS professionals so that communities receive quality emergency medical care."

Click here to view and download the report: 2024 NYS EMS Workforce Report - Release Date 2024.09.16 V.001.pdf

The current American Ambulance Association, Prodigy EMS, Academy of International Mobile Healthcare Integration media tracker powered by EMSIntel.org, has cataloged 2,513 local and national media reports about EMS since 2021.  81% of the reports cite staffing and/or economic issues.

Click here to view or download the news tracker: https://aimhi.mobi/news/