The family of a 75-year-old Corona woman who died of a heart attack on December 27th is suing the city for $20 million, claiming Yvonne Freeman could have survived if the ambulance hadn't taken three hours in the storm to get to their house. Freeman's daughter, Lauren, told the Daily News, "She never had a chance. I felt so helpless. I can't believe they wouldn't plow the streets. The city can't let this happen again." more ›

According to Fire Commissioner Sal Cassano, 911 received 4,662 calls on December 27th. Unfortunately many of those may not have been life threatening, and that reportedly slowed EMS response time to 55 minutes, about ten times last year's average rate of response. Cassano told the Post, "While we might expect more calls reporting chest pain as New Yorkers exerted themselves by shoveling snow, our statistics indicate a spike in calls for every category of medical emergencies." Like stubbed toes and being cold. Anyway, if there's a blizzard going on and your kid won't do his homework, you're probably better off calling Amy Chua. more ›

And another sad story from the aftermath of Blizageddon has emerged from the snow. 73-year-old Joel Grossman didn't feel great on Monday. Around noon he called 911 but because his situation wasn't life-threatening the dispatcher chose not to send an ambulance to his Kensington home. As the day progressed Grossman stayed in touch with the 911 dispatcher, but nobody was sent to him since it didn't sound too serious. And suddenly it was, and it was too late. more ›

After 911 operators mistakenly dispatched firefighters to the wrong addresses in response to at least two fatal fires, the NYPD and FDNY announced that they will alter the city's emergency phone-answering system. Police phone operators will still respond to all 911 calls — continuing the so-called "Unified Call Taking System" which was launched in May — but when a caller reports a fire, the operator will electronically transmit the data to the FDNY and an FDNY official will have the chance "to listen in on the emergency fire calls and ask additional questions," according to the Post. more ›

after 911 was called, an ambluance appeared... from Staten Island. more ›