AMR addresses slow response times in letter to Buffalo Common Council

BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- American Medical Response released a letter Monday in response to concerns about slow ambulance response times in the City of Buffalo, citing staffing shortages as one of several contributing factors.

AMR's response follows a letter written by Buffalo Common Council Member Mitch Nowakowski back in July where he expressed concerns about the response times and said it's a serious health problem.

In Nowakowski's letter, he said there were multiple complaints in the Fillmore District, with some reports stating people with serious medical emergencies were left without care for over an hour or received no service at all.

AMR said in its letter that "inappropriate ambulance requests and hospital delays" contribute to slow response times. According to AMR, they receive about 40 "low acuity" calls in the city every day. They said many of these calls "strain the EMS system" when different transportation methods can be used.

AMR also said its response times fall within industry standards, citing from July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, its average ambulance response to life-threatening emergencies was nine minutes and 21 seconds.

Other listed contributing factors to slow response times included a national and state EMS staffing shortage and long waiting times at emergency rooms, with an average wait time of 46 minutes, AMR said.

In an interview with WIVB News 4 on Tuesday, Nowakowski said he's happy an official dialogue is starting between the city and AMR.

"While you acknowledged that these problems exist, why did it take problems in my district and slow response times to be able for you to acknowledge them?” he said.

AMR said it's been serving the city without a contract for nearly four years. When the contract expired in September 2020, AMR proposed an extension before the expiration date, but didn't receive a response, they said. In August 2021, the city requested a proposal for ambulance services, AMR said, which AMR submitted in October 2021. The contract was awarded to them and they drafted an agreement to start negotiations, but didn't receive a follow-up, according to AMR.

Nowakowski said he will call on the fire commissioner before the finance committee to explain why the city doesn't have a contract with AMR.

“The fact of the matter is that when you have an unexpired contract and you’re not operating with one, we can’t hold your feet to the fire," he said. "We don’t have anything in place to be able to have these conversations and dialogue to remediate the problems.”

Nowakowski said he also wants to discuss the low wages EMS workers receive and that there's "a lot of work to do."

“When I first initially found out, I was astonished," he said. "$18 an hour, $19 an hour, for people who are reviving you, who are responding to emergencies, who are providing critical life saving care to get to the hospital?"

AMR said it will present their thoughts and performance data to the Buffalo Common Council on Sept. 10 and said they're open to negotiating a new agreement.

Read the full letter from AMR below.