Across New York State, firefighters, EMS personnel, and first responders — career and volunteer alike — show up at 2 a.m., in snowstorms, on holidays. Seconds Matter NY exists to make sure the laws, the equipment, and the systems they depend on show up for them in return.
Emergency lighting, vehicle markings, move-over enforcement, scene safety standards. The signals motorists see — and how the public is taught to recognize them — directly determine whether responders get to the scene alive and on time. These fights protect everyone wearing the uniform.
Career departments face staffing shortages and burnout. Volunteer ranks have shrunk for two decades. We push for the policy fixes — fair pay and benefits, tax credits, training reciprocity, length-of-service awards, paid leave protections — that keep New York's emergency services adequately staffed.
First responders carry trauma the public never sees. We advocate for confidential peer support programs, behavioral health coverage, and presumptive disability protections that match the science of cumulative exposure — and that apply whether you wear a paid badge or a volunteer one.
New York is one of the only states that asks volunteer EMS personnel to respond to life-threatening emergencies behind a green courtesy light — a color most motorists read as construction or utility work. We're working to amend VTL §375(41) to retire green and adopt blue as the single statewide standard for volunteer EMS — the same color volunteer firefighters have used effectively for over forty years. It's our first campaign — chosen because it's specific, winnable, and visible from the road every day.
NY's Move Over Law protects every responder on the shoulder — career engine companies on a highway MVA, paramedics working a wreck, volunteer EMTs at a roadside call. Enforcement remains uneven and public awareness is low. We're scoping a statewide initiative paired with stronger penalty structures.
Career departments fight staffing shortages and mandatory overtime. Volunteer rosters have lost a third of their strength in two decades. Different problems, shared root causes. We're building a coalition agenda that addresses pay, benefits, tax credits, and protected leave.
Career responders are often locked out of behavioral health benefits by department culture. Volunteers are often locked out by statute. We're collecting data to support presumptive PTSD coverage and confidential peer support that applies regardless of pay status.
In New York's largest cities, the first ambulance and the first engine on scene are usually staffed by career personnel — full-time, paid, often unionized. Outside those cities, the first responder on scene is almost always a volunteer. Most of the state runs on some mix of both, with mutual aid agreements stitching it together.
These two workforces are too often treated as separate political constituencies — different laws, different benefits, different coverage. But they share the trucks, the calls, the trauma, and the same statutes. A bad scene-safety standard kills career firefighters and volunteer firefighters alike. A weak Move Over Law endangers every responder on the shoulder.
Seconds Matter NY exists to close the policy gaps that affect both — and to refuse the false choice that says you have to pick one side of the workforce to advocate for.
Stories like these are not rare. They are the working condition of emergency response in New York. We're documenting them, organizing them, and bringing them to the people who can change the law.
You see what's broken from the inside — staffing, equipment, contracts, scene safety. We want to hear from line firefighters, EMTs, paramedics, and union members about what needs fixing.
Get in touch →Take our active surveys, document near-misses, sign on as a campaign witness. Your voice is the most powerful thing in any committee room.
Take the survey →Take the public survey, write to your state senator and assembly member, and learn what each color of emergency light actually means.
Public survey →Endorse a campaign, share data, or fund the work. We partner with departments, squads, county coordinators, and unions — and every dollar funds research, surveys, and legislative travel.
Reach out →Whether you're a responder with a story, an agency leader interested in partnership, a journalist working on a story, or a donor who wants to fund the work — we want to hear from you.
General inquiries:
hello@secondsmatterny.org
Press:
press@secondsmatterny.org
Fix 375 campaign:
fix375@secondsmatterny.org