Welcome

Welcome to my EMS incident dispatch data analysis for New York City. This page provides a comprehensive analysis of emergency medical service (EMS) calls handled by the Fire Department of New York (FDNY). EMS plays a crucial role in responding to medical emergencies, and understanding the patterns of these calls can help inform resource allocation, policy decisions, and public health interventions. The data presented here span from 2020 to the most recent reporting period, sourced from the NYC Open Data platform.

Data Overview

The dataset includes all EMS incidents dispatched by FDNY, capturing key details such as the date and time of the call, location, response time, and final call type. However, it does not include EMS responses from hospitals, private ambulance services, or other agencies operating in New York City. As a result, these data represent only a portion of the total EMS activity within the city. While FDNY is the largest EMS provider in New York City, the absence of data from other agencies should be considered when interpreting trends.

How to Use These Data

This page presents multiple visualizations to help users explore EMS call trends. The analyses include daily call volumes, response times, spatial distribution of incidents, cumulative and trend analyses for different call types, and incidence rate calculations. Users can examine citywide patterns or focus on specific boroughs, times of day, or types of medical emergencies. These insights can support emergency preparedness planning, operational adjustments, and policy development to improve response efficiency and public health outcomes.

Why Are These Data Important?

EMS data provide valuable insights into public health and emergency response systems. Monitoring trends in call volume, response times, and call types helps identify emerging health concerns, evaluate the efficiency of EMS services, and guide resource allocation. These data are particularly critical for understanding the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, seasonal variations in medical emergencies, and disparities in access to emergency care across different neighborhoods.

What Do These Data Show?

These data illustrate key aspects of FDNY EMS response, including the frequency of calls by borough, time of day, and final call type. The visualizations highlight cumulative incidence rates and annualized incidence trends, allowing for the identification of shifts in EMS demand over time. Spatial analyses further reveal how EMS calls are distributed across the city, which can help pinpoint areas experiencing higher volumes of medical emergencies. Additionally, call response times are examined to assess potential delays in emergency care.

What Do These Data Not Show?

These data do not provide information on EMS incidents handled by non-FDNY agencies, which means they do not reflect the full scope of emergency medical responses in New York City. Additionally, they do not include patient outcomes, such as hospital admission status, treatment effectiveness, or survival rates. The dataset also lacks demographic details on patients, limiting the ability to analyze disparities in EMS utilization across different population groups. Finally, potential reporting inconsistencies or missing data should be considered when interpreting trends.

Implications for Public Health Practice

Understanding EMS call patterns can support strategic decision-making for emergency response and public health initiatives. Policymakers can use these data to identify areas with high call volumes and assess whether additional EMS resources or alternative healthcare services, such as urgent care centers, are needed. EMS administrators can analyze response time trends to optimize staffing and dispatch strategies, ensuring that emergency care is delivered as quickly as possible. Public health officials can examine call type distributions to detect emerging health threats, such as seasonal spikes in respiratory distress calls or clusters of opioid overdoses, allowing for timely interventions. By integrating these insights into broader health and emergency preparedness planning, stakeholders can enhance the effectiveness and equity of emergency medical services across New York City.

Executive Summary¹

Date: October 23, 2025
Subject: FDNY EMS Dispatch Data Briefing: September 2024 - August 2025 Trends

This briefing summarizes trends from the FDNY Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Computer-Aided Dispatch system for the 12-month period from September 2024 through August 2025. In August 2025, the most recent month with complete data, EMS responded to 135,831 incidents citywide. This figure represents a 4.6% decrease from the 142,345 incidents recorded in July 2025, a seasonal dip consistent with prior years. When compared to the same month in the previous year, August 2024 (133,083 incidents), the current volume reflects a modest 2.1% increase, suggesting that overall EMS demand has plateaued at a sustained, high level. The most frequent incident types in August 2025 were “Sick” (16,426) and “Minor Illness” (15,675), with “Unconscious Patient” and “Psychiatric Patient” tying for third most frequent (9,556 incidents each). These categories have consistently been among the top throughout the reporting period.

A notable pattern emerging from the data is the sustained year-over-year increase in incidents dispatched as “Psychiatric Patient.” In August 2025, there were 9,556 such incidents, which is an increase of 1,395 calls, or 17.1%, from the 8,161 incidents in August 2024. This upward trend has been consistent for several consecutive months when compared to the prior year. This pattern may reflect a growing need for emergency mental health services across the city. Alternative explanations could include increased public awareness and willingness to call 911 for mental health crises, or changes in dispatch classification protocols. These data, based on initial call information, warrant further investigation alongside hospital and syndromic surveillance data.

Conversely, a second notable pattern is a substantial year-over-year decrease in incidents classified as “Respiratory Distress.” EMS responded to 4,730 such calls in August 2025, a 19.5% decline from the 5,877 incidents recorded in August 2024, representing 1,147 fewer calls. This downturn could indicate a lower citywide prevalence of severe respiratory viruses during the summer of 2025 compared to the previous year. It might also suggest shifts in public behavior, such as increased utilization of telehealth or urgent care for respiratory symptoms before they become emergent. Continued monitoring of this trend through the upcoming fall and winter seasons is recommended.

In summary, the most recent 12 months of EMS dispatch data show a system operating at a consistently high capacity, with call volumes slightly elevated compared to the prior year. While overall incident counts remain stable, two diverging trends are apparent: a substantial increase in psychiatric-related calls and a concurrent decrease in calls for respiratory distress. These signals provide a valuable, near real-time view of specific public health pressures. The stability of top-level call types like “Sick” and “Minor Illness” underscores the persistent and broad-based demand for emergency medical services across New York City.

Daily EMS Call Volume

Daily EMS Call Travel Times

This figure displays median FDNY EMS travel times to incident scenes by borough across the observation period. Each line represents daily median travel time in minutes for a given borough, with smoothed trend lines showing longer-term movement over time. The visualization highlights both overall stability and subtle shifts in travel efficiency across the five boroughs.

Differences among boroughs may reflect variations in geography, traffic congestion, call density, and resource allocation. For example, longer travel times may occur in boroughs with greater distances between stations and incident locations, while shorter times may suggest more concentrated coverage or faster roadway access. Tracking these borough-level medians over time provides insight into the operational tempo and responsiveness of the city’s EMS system under varying conditions.

Graph Prepared By: Isaac H. Michaels, DrPH
Data Source: NYC Open Data

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Call Times

Spatial Distribution

Final Call Types