CHICAGO (CBS) – Chicago firefighters are calling out the city for not having enough ambulances and paramedics to safely serve the city, and they want this resolved as part of a new union contract.
They plan to protest at next week’s NASCAR event, and then outside the Democratic National Convention.
CBS 2 Investigators have discovered why their protests are linked to 911 calls for help. Two Chicago firefighters said the city needs more staff because their paramedics are overworked.
“There are days in the day where the 911 operator says, ‘Is there an ambulance available? Is someone available?’ said Battalion Chief Patrick Cleary. “That’s citywide, and in the meantime, they’re calling for engines and trucks to report to those scenes until an ambulance can arrive.”
Cleary is president of the firefighters’ union. Battalion Chief Tony Martin is secretary of the firefighters’ pension fund.
“The morale of the department is very low, especially given the working conditions and the amount of overtime some of these guys were working,” Martin said.
They both said working conditions have become so bad that burnout has reached an all-time high, especially for paramedics, because there aren’t enough of them to handle all the 911 calls for emergency medical services.
One random day they said, “The doctors are exhausted.” Cleary said there is a shortage of paramedics.
They said hiring more paramedics should be the priority and they want a commitment from the city spelled out in a new union contract. They are also demanding pay increases as salaries have been frozen since 2021, making it even harder to find new recruits for the department.
“We can’t replace medics as quickly as they leave the department,” Martin said.
They and their fellow firefighters plan to march down Michigan Avenue in protest at the upcoming NASCAR Street Race event next month. They also plan to protest at the Democratic National Convention in August.
“I mean, it’s not something we’re looking forward to, but I think it’s something we have to do right now,” Martin said.
In 2023, they said paramedics worked nearly 230,000 hours of overtime just to staff the city’s 80 ambulances, and they’re at the same pace for 2024.
“You know, some of our medics run 20 to 25 runs a day,” Martin said.
Cleary said just looking at paramedics making so many runs, “You’re exhausted, you’re not sleeping. They go home for the day and come right back to the fire station.”
They said the policy is that the fire department will send a fire engine or fire engine to a medical emergency if an ambulance is not available. Of the city’s 161 fire trucks and engines, 74 would have at least one paramedic on board to provide life-saving aid and administer life-saving medications until an ambulance arrives.
But they said there is such a shortage of paramedics and the city often doesn’t have any. Records show that on June 16, there were 12 fire trucks and engines that should have had paramedics on board, but did not.
They call that a downgrade.
“That means the rig, which says ‘paramedic equipped’ on the side, is not equipped with a paramedic for a full 24-hour shift,” Cleary said.
The fire department said they had never seen such major staffing problems. What does that do to the mental health of firefighters?
“It just demonizes, you know, how they think about work, coming to work,” Cleary said. ‘They are angry. They are overworked and now they are treating patients. It is not good.’
Cleary and Martin said they want to see more mental health care available. They also want firefighters and paramedics to have time off to grieve if they lose colleagues who work in the same firehouse.
When they march, they wear shirts that say, “Stand with the first responders.”
Calls and emails to the Chicago Fire Department and Mayor Brandon Johnson’s office were not returned.
