‘People are leaving’: New York City’s EMS workers are struggling to make ends meet

We have a saying…
PD: The Best
FD: The Bravest
EMS: The Forgotten
When I was working fulltime on the ambulance, the kid delivering pizza made more than I did. No benefits.
The town I lived in had an all-volunteer squad; I was on that too. We didn’t even have an ambulance — we responded to calls and worked them until the next town over sent a bus.
That’s working EMS for a huge amount of the US- little to no pay, supplying our own equipment, throwing a fundraiser BBQ every summer to cover the fees. NYC has no excuse for being like this but it’s always been. (You don’t hear about the EMTs who ran into the towers…)