The city announced that it intends to hire eight paramedics to operate the primary ambulance, currently run by the career firefighters.

Herald file photo

The addition of paramedics, according to Schnirman, will enable the city to maximize its available ambulances and ensure more-rapid response times. The ICMA report concluded that the city is using an outdated model in which career firefighters work in 24-hour shifts and respond to EMS calls mainly from the firehouse. Schnirman said that the city is in the process of hiring paramedics who will run pre-deployed ambulances around town and work in 12-hour shifts.

Many of the ICMA report’s findings, however, have raised the ire of the Long Beach Professional Firefighters Local 287 and a number of residents, who claimed that the firm used flawed data and criticized its recommendation to replace more than half the city’s career firefighters with civilian paramedics at significantly lower salaries.

Five career firefighters were laid off in February, after a federal grant that funded the positions expired. The career unit is now down to 19 active firefighters, Local 287 President Billy Piazza said, down from 30 last year. The city, which is still involved in contract negotiations with the union, said that no additional career firefighters would be laid off.

The Fire Department has three ambulances, and the career unit operates with a minimum of five firefighters per 24-hour tour: three on an engine and two firefighter/EMTs on an ambulance. But additional ambulance service is often contingent on available manpower, officials said.

Under the new plan, the city’s paramedics would operate the primary ambulance 24/7. South Nassau would run the second one 12 hours a day, while the career firefighters and volunteers would operate the other two based on need and available manpower, according to Fire Commissioner Scott Kemins. A minimum of four career firefighters, Kemins said, will be staffed on the engine at all times, allowing them to focus on firefighting duties.