The graduating class includes a diverse group of students, nine of whom previously contributed to pre-hospital saves and two helped to deliver newborns while on duty. Several graduates have previously served in the United States Army and in the Navy. The graduates are quite a multilingual crowd. Among the graduates are speakers of Farsi, Korean, Creole, Mandarin, Romanian, Greek, and Tagalog.
“A city this dynamic and this strong depends on people who are willing to dedicate their lives to others,” stated Mayor Bloomberg. “These men and women are giving their all; they are the unsung heroes in one of the city’s toughest and most demanding jobs. They are not there just for a paycheck or for personal glory, but they are there because of their compassion for others and their love for New York,” he continued.
“This is a great day for the graduates and for the FDNY’s Emergency Medical Service,” noted Commissioner Scoppetta. “To the graduates—be proud of yourselves today, because all of us are very proud of you as well. Continue to push yourselves—whether by rising up through the ranks here or by guiding others who might want to be part of this great organization. You are the future of FDNY EMS,” he added.
FDNY EMS has added 42 Advanced Life Support tours, corresponding to a 30 percent increase in paramedic coverage. The EMS responded to over 1.2 million calls in 2008, resulting in a 2.3 percent increase since 2007, while its response time of 6 minutes and 38 seconds has remained among the lowest in its history.
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