I am sure everyone here in urban EMS will contend that they live in a dangerous city.
Referring to New Jersey/New York since I have worked EMS in both, I would have to say NJ is much more dangerous. I won't speak of Newark, Camden, Irvington(scary place) or ACY. Nor will I mention Paterson, Pleasantville, or Trenton which are all really urban and have issues. I will speak of what I know.
Jersey City and NYC.
Anytime I have had a job in NYC where my safety was an issue, it was rare that I had a problem getting the police to respond. (maybe during shift change) However in JC, I feel like the cops there are sooooo freaking busy with all the messed up people, that I usually get to calls well before them where I should not even be on the block. I have felt more threatened by pts there. Almost every other call in JC is an EDP or assult. In NYC COPS go to EVERY EDP call not just the "unsafe" ones. While overall the call volume compared to NYC is about 10% per year, the per unit call volume is horrendous. NYC has plenty of resources whereas JC has only 4 BLS units on overnight shifts and 3 ALS. So while in NYC i did MAYBE 7-10 calls in an 8hr shift (day shift in Brooklyn) out here I do proobably 15-25 calls in a 12hr shift, and because of the limited resources they come non-stop.
By the way more related to the topic of this post..
You know your in Urban EMS when :
your pt. is covered in their own feces and they have a family of maggots living in their lower extremities. (as in home sweet home for these flys/maggots)
your pt is a teenager who is UNINJURED and ambulatory for approx 20 minutes on scene after a close call with a MOTORCYCLE, that is until his MOTHER shows up and tells him he is in too much pain to walk and to remember to say the guy was speeding to the lawyers.....and yes he decided to limp into the ER....why?? the only thing he was struck with was air........
Reservations for 4 anyone????
IrishEDP
Be safe out there.