Static Over The Police Radios!

About a week ago Channel Two aired a news piece about the Fire Department Administration
eliminating the NYPD division radio frequencies on the new portable radios they are issuing to the
NYC EMS units. The piece touched on the obvious fact that direct communication between EMS
ambulances and PD sector cars help to improve EMS ambulance response times by pinpointing the
exact location of a patient and so forth.

Fire Commissioner Scopetta released a statement that of course saw it the other way. In fact various
Fire Commissioners have complained for years that the EMS ambulances have "freelanced" in the
field. While freelancing may be a problem at times, no Commissioner has wanted to deal with that
issue directly while seeing to it that our EMS crews enjoyed the maximum safety possible from
carrying NYPD division capable portable radios. No doubt the new Fire Commissioner was listening
to the same alleged FDNY Communications specialists who have so scarred the NYC Fire Department
with their scandal plagued Motorola digital portable radio purchases over the last several years. You
have to hand it to the survivors in the Fire Administration, they are specialists are tearing down NYC
EMS systems that aren't broken.

Given the above, a little EMS/Police Radio history is in order. In February 1981, then EMS Executive
Director James Kerr had NYPD issue a directive that EMS units were no longer permitted to sign
NYPD portables out of the precincts. Given the fact that the NYPD and EMS were only in the early
stages of computerized 911 dispatching, these police radios then helped a great deal in reducing EMS
response times to critically ill or injured patients. There was an immediate uproar over the no PD
Radio Directive from both EMS workers and the Police Officers in the field. Your writer, along with
other EMS workers, gave an interview to Channel Seven's Milton Lewis. I said that the loss of these
Police Radios would delay serious calls reaching the EMS ambulances and that "Taking away the
police radios will cost people their lives." The uproar was so great that in a matter of days the City
gave in and the EMS units could once again sign NYPD portables out of the precinct. Within three
months (May of 1981), EMS issued its first "gag order" that said that EMS personnel could not talk to
representatives of the news media without the prior permission of the EMS Executive Director.

To EMS/HHC's credit, as newer Motorola portables became available that could accommodate more
frequencies, EMS had NYPD division frequencies installed in the replacement EMS radios so that
every EMS unit would have NYPD communication capability in an emergency. So what about
emergencies? Well, as I have said before, I was assaulted in the back of my ambulance by a drunk
driver I had just picked up. If it wasn't for a quick thinking partner and a civilian, I would have been
seriously injured. What radio did I use to get us 10-85 help on? You know the answer—I used the
NYPD division portable radio.

Now I'll admit that the FDNY Administration has been slick in allowing the EMS units the capability
to transmit to a secondary NYPD city-wide dispatcher. But as every one knows, this is not the same as
being able to transmit and receive on NYPD division radio in an emergency. Given this fact, one
could assume that the FDNY Administration doesn't care about the EMS personnel having the best
possible safety available in the field. Or, since the FDNY Administration has published Operations
Orders prohibiting EMS Dispatchers from requesting NYPD ESU to the scene of an emergency, we
might also assume that FDNY doesn't want the EMS field units speaking to the NYPD about the
emergencies we have been assigned to and/or requesting ESU to respond to same.
The Local will tell you that the FDNY Administration possesses the management right to screw things
up. These management rights do indeed apply to the FDNY Administration screwing up their day-to-
day management decisions when it comes to NYC EMS (or Fire) operations. However, the nature and
scope of the FDNY Administration's portable radio scandal sets the purchase and implementation of
the new FDNY portable radio system apart as an extraordinary threat to EMS/Fire worker safety.
Under the NYS Taylor Law any union has the right to question management decisions when these
decisions have a "practical impact" on the members' safety.

Unfortunately, the Local's files are overflowing with incidents where our members have been seriously
assaulted by patients. I also provided the Local with copies of the 1996 NY Daily News Article
entitled "Medics Suddenly Find It Is Dodge City" where two NYC EMS Paramedics were pinned
down in front of a Pitkin Avenue building by gunfire from the Zodiac Killer. These quick thinking
Paramedics were able to get shelter in an apartment but had to phone in for help because they couldn't
get out on their radio. There are many other stories of our members being shot at, threatened with a
knife or gun, assaulted by patients or others, having an accident, and so on. Often our members got
help in these situations with the aid of NYPD division portable radios.

To the Local's credit, they did file a charge with the NYS Office of Occupational Safety and Health
when FDNY started to take the Division frequencies out of our portables last year. They also filed a
grievance against the same unsafe practice. While I certainly supported these steps, what could the
Local have done if it really wanted to be effective? First of all, Mr. Bahnken, as a Vice President of
DC 37, could have had the Local's collective bargaining representative, DC 37, file in New York State
Supreme Court for an injunction maintaining the status quo until the NYPD division radio arbitration
was completed. While there is no guarantee of success in Court, given the life and death safety issue
of NYC EMS units having division radio capability and the fact that EMS units have had the same
division radio capabilities without serious problems for twenty years time, an injunction pending
arbitration may well have been granted.

This type of injunction would simply maintain the status quo until an arbitrator ruled in the portable
division radio dispute. The arbitration would focus on the whether the safety of NYC EMS employees
were being compromised because of this change in EMS/HHC past practice. Given all the dangers
that EMS workers face in the field, and the numerous incidents where EMS workers have either been
injured and/or threatened with serious bodily injury, one would hope that an arbitrator would side with
the EMS workers and order that NYPD division frequencies remain in our portables. Of course, the
Local would have been free to bring in NYC PBA members and/or EMS workers from other
jurisdictions to testify before the arbitrator about the various dangers they have faced in their
respective jobs and how emergency coordination was the key to enhanced safety in the field.

Given the life and death nature of the removal of NYPD division portable frequencies from our radios,
I for one wanted the Local to leave no stone unturned in its efforts to protect our members' safety in
the field. But that is not what your Local wanted to do—so now we have FDNY comprising our EMS
workers' personal safety with the new radios while the Local has merely covered its backside in this
life and death portable radio dispute. Think about that the next time you're in trouble in the field and
you don't have NYPD division radio frequencies in your portable radio.

Respectfully Submitted by Richard J. McAllan, EMT-P rmcallan@asan.com Oct. 2, 2002