FDNY plans to hike price of EMT runs

Need an ambulance? It’s going to cost you more, if the FDNY gets its way.

The department wants to hike up the cost of an ambulance run by between $125 and $215, depending on the service, according to a notice released in the City Record on Thursday.

A medical call where basic life support services are given will go up from $775 to $900, while advanced life support services — or the need for paramedics — will increase from $1,310 to $1,525, the proposed changes state. When a defibrillator is used, intubations are performed and intravenous drugs are administered, the price will jump up from $1,420 to $1,625.

The FDNY also plans to charge $15 a mile for the trip to the hospital and $66 for providing oxygen.

In addition, the department is proposing a flat $630 “facilitation of treatment in place” service, where EMS members will do a “remote evaluation” of a patient with a health care professional through an audio and video link.

“The new rates for ‘facilitation of treatment in place’ compensate the City for the time spent by ambulance personnel in providing such services, equipping ambulances with the necessary communications equipment and other program costs,” the plan states.

The FDNY wants to raise its fees “to reflect increased costs and help defray the City’s cost of providing these services,” the department said in its proposal.

“The proposed rates reflect increased personal-services costs and other-than-personalservice costs required to provide emergency ambulance services while at the same time reduce the portion of such costs that is currently borne by city taxpayers,” the FDNY explained.

The last time the department increased its EMS service costs was in March 2017, officials said.

A public hearing on the proposal is scheduled for Nov. 2.

“EMS transport rates are periodically increased to reflect current costs of running EMS,” an FDNY spokesman said.

FDNY EMS responded to 1.5 million medical calls in 2019.