New York City’s emergency response times for life-threatening situations rose again in fiscal year 2025, according to a management report from Mayor Eric Adams’ administration. The data measure dispatch and travel times for life-threatening medical emergencies handled by both FDNY ambulances and fire companies. The combined dispatch-and-travel time to such calls increased by 22 seconds, rising from 7 minutes and 23 seconds in FY2024 to 7 minutes and 45 seconds in FY2025, the Fire Department said. The fiscal year runs July 1 to June 30.
Ambulance-only response times to life-threatening emergencies increased by 29 seconds, a 4% rise, from 10 minutes and 52 seconds to 11 minutes and 21 seconds. In FY2021, the report notes, the response time was 9 minutes and 34 seconds. Fire company response times to life-threatening emergencies increased by 5 seconds, from 9 minutes and 37 seconds in FY2024 to 9 minutes and 42 seconds last year, up from 8 minutes and 29 seconds in FY2021. The report underscores that the FY2025 figures reflect ongoing patterns in a large, urban EMS system.
On a positive note, the average turnaround time that ambulances spent at hospitals declined by ten seconds year-to-year, from 40 minutes and 50 seconds to 40 minutes and 40 seconds. Meanwhile, the number of life-threatening care cases receiving advanced life-support treatments rose from 117,269 in FY2024 to 133,789 in FY2025, a sign of rising demand for high-level EMS interventions. The Fire Department said that, each year, a substantial and increasing number of life-saving interventions are performed by EMS, including nebulized medications for asthma, epinephrine injections for allergic reactions, and rapid transport of stroke or myocardial infarction patients to specialized centers.
The report also notes mixed efficiency metrics. The average number of hours ambulances were in service fell by 3 percent, and the total number of reported life-threatening medical emergency incidents dropped from 633,361 in FY2024 to 620,467 in FY2025. City officials attributed most of the longer response times to factors beyond staffing, including heavy outer-borough traffic congestion and higher call volumes. A spokesperson for the mayor’s office said the administration continues to address the issue by improving hospital coordination, boosting efficiency in high-volume areas, and leveraging telehealth to streamline care.
The staffing dimension remained a tense flashpoint. Oren Barzilay, president of EMS Local 2507, which represents about 4,000 paramedics and EMTs, said ambulance response times have risen across the board and characterized the trend as part of a broader, systemic crisis facing the city’s EMS. Barzilay cited a reported attrition rate near 70 percent among EMS personnel and blamed staffing shortages that he described as linked to compensation and retention challenges. City Hall and FDNY acknowledged staffing pressures but emphasized that traffic and call volume are significant contributors to longer response times.
Officials said the city is pursuing measures to curb delays, including closer hospital coordination, targeted efficiency improvements in high-demand areas, and expanded use of telehealth technology to triage cases and streamline care before hospital arrival.
