Did Chronic Understaffing Contribute to Murder of EMS Officer on NYC Streets?
FDNY EMS Lieutenant Alison Russo was attacked and killed while on duty last month.
BY BOB HENNELLY
Last month’s brutal on-duty murder of FDNY EMS Lieutenant Alison Russo, who was posthumously promoted to Captain, is no longer front page news in a city that’s struggling to recover its pre-pandemic equilibrium.
Yet even now, despite the massive wall-to-wall coverage the murder got, the union that represented the beloved 61-year-old EMS officer is pressing to correct the initial NYPD account of what happened on Sept. 29 in Corona, Queens.
Multiple news outlets, including this one, based on that official account, reported Russo was attacked while she was on a break to get her lunch. At Mayor Adams’s Sept. 29 press briefing at Sinai Hospital announcing Russo’s death, NYPD’s Chief of Detectives James Essig told reporters Russo “was on her break and was going to get food nearby” when she was set upon by a 34 year-old male who brandished a knife and stabbed her multiple times.
Essig recounted the NYPD’s swift apprehension of the suspect after he barricaded himself in his nearby apartment.
RISKING THE AWKWARD MOMENT
Just as the mayoral press briefing at the hospital wrapped up, Vincent Variale, president of District Council 37’s Local 3621, which represents FDNY EMS officers, interjected off-mike, that contrary to the NYPD’s account, Russo was not on a meal break, because FDNY EMS, rank and file as well their officers can’t and don’t take breaks.
“Excuse me Commissioner, I just want to say something—Chief I appreciate your investigation—I appreciate the work the NYPD has done,” Variale said. “I just want to correct one thing, she was not on break I heard the word break used. EMS doesn’t get breaks. We are on duty 24/7 out there to help and save the public. I want to make that clear. I heard that word used again, We don’t get breaks.”
A reporter asked for Variale, who was in the leadership TV camera shot, to step forward to the microphone to amplify his observations. As Local 3621’s president stepped toward the microphone he was intercepted by Mayor Adams who offered his own clarification.
“If any term was used to give the impression that this hero was in anyway taking a break or not taking a break that is not the reality as all of our first responders—they are always on call,” Adams said. “She was there for a reason—no matter what the reason was she should not have been murdered in this fashion. This is a painful time for everyone. Let’s be clear on the terminology that is reported—she was on duty doing her job saving the people of New York.”
During a wide-ranging interview, Variale said getting out the granular details surrounding Russo’s last hours on earth were essential to ensure the city learned from the tragedy and took steps to make a repeat less likely. To that end, the Local 3621 leader conducted his own inquiry by speaking with Russo’s colleagues that were on duty that day and the nearby owner of the deli that was frequented by Russo’s EMS station.
“On the day of her death, Lt. Russo’s vehicle was off-service mechanical and she was waiting for roadside to come and repair it and while she was waiting outside the EMS station someone told her there was a person with a problem that needed help,” Variale recounted. “She went to the corner to investigate and if you look at that horrendous video of her murder you see she’s looking around the corner and this man comes out of nowhere and starts stabbing her.”
Variale continued. “I noticed on the video she was not holding food in her hands and I asked the store keeper and he said she did not come in for food and her lunch was still in the station when she was attacked.”
As it turns out, if zealous representation by a union is to be meaningful it has to endure past the grave. In the age of social media, once an official account of events goes viral, it can quickly become “the story” as news sources recycle old content and fail to update for nuances that can really matter.
According to Variale, Russo’s family will receive three-times her yearly salary by virtue of the fact she died while being an active-duty New York City municipal employee. Mayor Adams also has the discretion to grant her family one year of her salary if he determines it was a line of duty death.
Under the the U.S. DOJ’s Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program, EMS line of duty deaths may qualify for a $422,000 benefit.
Russo’s family could also opt to bring a wrongful death suit against the City of New York, according to Variale. “There could be issues related to potential occupational safety lapses on the job itself like staffing, the status of our bulletproof vests, even vehicle reliability,” he said.
HEAVY HEARTS ALL ROUND
The loss of Russo, who was a 9/11 World Trade Center responder and a grandmother who was considered “the den mother”of her station, hit the FDNY hard. It brought back memories of the violent 2017 on-the-job murder of FDNY EMT Yadira Arroyo, single mother of five, in the Bronx.
“Members of EMS serve only to save the lives of others. To be attacked while doing that noble work is heartbreaking and enraging for our entire Department,” said Acting Commissioner Kavanagh in a statement. “Lt. Russo-tElling exemplified FDNY EMS. She was a beloved veteran of the FDNY who served with honor and distinction for more than two decades. We stand together with her family and her colleagues in mourning during this incredibly painful time.”
As for potential lessons learned from the tragedy, FDNY spokesman Jim Long said “the department regularly reviews its policies and procedures. A review is already underway to see where we can improve and increase the safety of our members.”
“The reality is if she was a first responder in any other service, a Fire Lieutenant, she would be with three or four other firefighters—if she was a police sergeant she would have had a driver—if she was an FDNY EMS chief she would have had an aid,” Variale said. “EMS officers are the only first responders that respond to all emergencies—fires, shootouts—alone.”
For several years, DC 37’s Local 2507, which represents EMTs, paramedics and fire inspectors as well as Local 3621, have warned that the city’s chronic understaffing of EMS, was taking a serious toll on the workforce as well as driving up response times.
WNYC’s Gothamist investigated that linkage last month.
“EMS union leaders say turnover within the agency, due to a combination of stress and inadequate pay, contributes to a loss of expertise and periodic understaffing — which can lead to longer response times when New Yorkers dial 911. And in the last fiscal year, ambulance response times to life-threatening medical emergencies were up 53 seconds compared to the previous year.”
According to the latest Mayor Management’s Report, “end to end” average response time to life threatening medical emergencies by FDNY EMS went from 9:34 to 10:17. Meanwhile, the number of medical emergencies logged went from 515,598 in FY 2021 to 564,412 in FY 2022, while the average number of ambulances available dropped from 516 to 497 over the same period.
EMS’ THIN BLUE LINE
“This chronic staffing shortage just doesn’t endanger the lives of our members but of the general public,” said Variale “The low staffing level for Lieutenants and how the staffing shortage brings down things like the rate of cardiac attack survival is a serious issue the public should be concerned about.”
According to the Mayor Management’s Report, in FY 2019, before the pandemic, 35 percent of heart attack patients were revived and 47 percent of patients who experienced a witnessed cardiac arrest survived. In FY 2022, just 29 percent of heart attack patients were saved in the field and the number of patients in a witnessed cardiac event dropped to 43 percent.
Numerous peer reviewed medical studies have linked improved cardiac survivability to increased EMS staffing, a multi-layered response coordinated by capable field supervision.
“The federal, state and city-wide incident management system requires all emergency services to have a span of control of one supervisor for every seven individuals—but what we have for FDNY EMS ranges from one to 15 to one to 40 individuals—so, there’s no way we can be in compliance with that standard,” said Variale. “We need them to increase the number of EMTs and paramedics to staff the necessary number of ambulances properly while increasing the number of officers with aides to assure the proper level of supervision.”
“What you have today is FDNY EMS Lieutenants having to drive themselves to these life threatening emergencies while talking on the radio, typing on the computer—all while they are driving at 60 to 70 miles per hour—taking all these risks because the city accepts this chronic EMS understaffing,” Variale said.