Ambulance response times in New York City have deteriorated significantly over the past decade, with the average time to reach life-threatening emergencies now standing at 13 minutes. A recent report from the city comptroller indicates that response times have risen for five consecutive years, marking a 41.2% increase from ten years ago. The Mayor’s Management Report, released in September, noted that response times for critical cases jumped by nearly 16% between fiscal years 2025 and 2026, the sharpest annual increase this decade.

What the Right Is Saying

Council member Joann Ariola, a Republican from Queens and chair of the Fire and Emergency Management Committee, introduced legislation to require personalized real-time tracking for ambulances. "The idea is that I would be able to track my ambulance in real time, just like you're able to do for your bus, or your train, or your rideshare car," Ariola stated. She argued that providing this data allows patients to decide whether to wait or seek alternative transport, which could alleviate pressure on the overloaded Emergency Medical Services (EMS) system.

What the Left Is Saying

Democratic City Council member Harvey Epstein supported the push for real-time tracking, arguing that current communication gaps force residents to make uninformed decisions during medical emergencies. "We get live texts about everything under the sun, but for some reason, in our current system, we don't get alerts about this," Epstein said. He noted that if a parent waiting for an ambulance for an injured child knew the wait would be thirty minutes, "it's smarter for me to just hop in a cab anyway."

What the Numbers Show

According to the Mayor's Management Report, ambulance response times to life-threatening emergencies increased by approximately 16% between fiscal year 2025 and fiscal year 2026. Over the last decade, response times have risen by 41.2%.

Data from the comptroller’s report highlights a severe retention crisis within EMS: since 2019, about 4,300 EMTs and paramedics have left their positions. In the last fiscal year, 58% of departing EMTs transitioned to roles as firefighters. Entry-level pay for EMTs is lower than that of sanitation workers, firefighters, correction officers, and police officers. Achieving pay parity with firefighters is estimated to increase EMS salary-related expenses by $184 million annually, a 66% jump.

The Bottom Line

While Ariola and Epstein propose real-time tracking as a transparency measure to help callers manage wait times, they acknowledge it does not resolve the underlying staffing crisis. Ariola described the current situation as a "state of emergency" driven by an inability to retain personnel due to compensation issues. "This is not fixing the broken system," Ariola said. "We are in a state of emergency right now. It's a systemic problem with EMS because they cannot retain their members, because it's not a career."

Union leaders Vincent Variale and Michael Greco have called for pay parity to address the retention issue, stating it would "save the lives of New Yorkers in peril." FDNY spokesperson Amanda Farinacci confirmed the department is "considering and exploring all options," including live text updates, to improve emergency response communications.