BRONX, N.Y. 鈥� The FDNY鈥檚 largest EMS union is calling for a boycott of the National EMS Memorial Service in Arlington, Virginia, after the event鈥檚 organizers again refused to include EMT Frederick Whiteside, a 9/11 responder who died in the line of duty in 2023.
Whiteside, 43, suffered cardiac arrest on November 17, 2023, while working at the Public Safety Answering Center 2 (PSAC 2) in the Bronx, one of the busiest 911 dispatch centers in the country. The FDNY officially recognized his death as a line-of-duty fatality.
Despite his documented service at Ground Zero and more than two decades of frontline and dispatch work, organizers of the National EMS Memorial, which is scheduled for July 19, have declined to include his name in the annual tribute for two consecutive years.
Oren Barzilay, president of FDNY EMS Local 2507, which represents 4,000 EMTs, paramedics and fire inspectors, condemned the decision.
鈥淭his intentional oversight is a horrific insult,鈥� Barzilay said. 鈥淭he National Memorial鈥檚 corporate leadership owes the members of the FDNY an apology and needs to correct this shameful, disgusting decision without further delay.鈥�
Whiteside joined FDNY EMS in February 2001, and served in Brooklyn and the Bronx before transitioning to a dispatch role in 2019. The union emphasized that the high-stress nature of 911 medical dispatch 鈥� especially at PSAC 2, which handled part of the record-setting 1.6 million emergencies in 2023 鈥� should qualify him for memorial recognition.
Barzilay said it is 鈥渞idiculous鈥� to deny that dispatch work is essential EMS labor.
鈥淭o diminish that role is amateurish and spits in the eye of the thousands of medical first responders, those who served at Ground Zero and the dispatchers we rely on,鈥� he said.
Following his death, Whiteside was honored by FDNY leaders at a department ceremony and memorialized with a plaque. Officials, including FDNY Chief of Department John Esposito and Commissioner Robert S. Tucker, praised his professionalism, mentorship and commitment to patient care.
One year ago, the FDNY lost EMT Frederick D. Whiteside, of PSAC II in the Bronx. EMT Whiteside was a 22-year FDNY veteran. Whiteside was working on Friday, November 17, 2023 in Emergency Medical Dispatch when he experienced a cardiac arrest. Saturday, FDNY Members gathered to鈥�
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