Since I grew up in Bay Shore, I have some familiarity with LI and know that like in many areas Fire will look down or want nothing to do with EMS. I think your best bet is to contact other EMS Departments to form a united front and contact local and state officials to lobby for similar benefits.

While not a long-term solution, you may want to see if there would be interest in developing a Fire/EMS cadet program in the high school career program (I think it is still called B.O.C.E.S – Board of Cooperative Educational Services on LI). We have a program here in Frederick and it supplies a small but dedicated core of younger individuals. While the primary goal is to have a potential Fire/EMS career, we find that most belong or join local Fire Companies. They come out of the program with FF I, EMT-B and HazMat Ops. Also check out college students enrolled in pre-med programs, who may want the experience to place on their applications.

Pete