Letters to the Editor
EMT Standard an Insult

To the Editor:

Recently, The Department of Citywide Administrative Services published its notice of instructions for Promotional Exam to Supervising EMT (Lieutenant). In it, there appears a new requirement: that on the date of appointment qualified candidates must be a REMAC-certified Paramedic.

Someone (probably in FDNY-EMS) told them that they need to raise the standards for Lieutenants, that under the National Incident Command System (N.I.C.S.), an EMT Lieutenant cannot supervise five paramedics or that in several other metropolitan areas, becoming a paramedic is a requirement for promotion and that New York is just trying to "catch up."

What they have (quite carefully) left out are these facts: We are the oldest, largest and busiest municipal ambulance service in the United States. We should be leaders instead of followers! The only difference between a paramedic and an EMT Lieutenant is the ability to properly evaluate a paramedic's job performance (done once a year) and what/where a patient should be treated/transported! Otherwise, they are interchangeable in all the terms that matter: running a station, supervision of units, investigations, writing reports, etc. ...

They won't mention that we have competent, professional EMT Lieutenants, Captains and Chiefs working right now, and the Chief in Charge has (in the past) been an EMT without any problems for more than a decade! They won't face the fact that being a supervisor is more about people skills and problem-solving than remembering the proper drug dosage for a child or intubation. The fact that 80-85 percent of all 911 calls are handled by EMTs also isn't mentioned.

It is a slap in the face to all of us competent, compassionate and committed EMTs to suddenly pull the promotional ladder away in favor of someone who may have had more schooling but who may not be the best people person, problem-solver or example. The FDNY thinks that it qualifies as "fair" that under EEO they can let an EMT pay $50 to take an exam, then pass them over without even offering them the chance to become a paramedic!

I call on the Mayor and those other policy-makers at DCAS to re-examine this ill-advised decision. Fair treatment of those who serve this city and want to advance their careers is both right and cost-effective. Believe in your employees as they believe in you!

WILLIAM HAIGNEY, FDNY-EMS EMT