New York’s crisis deepens on Long Island, where medical calls double and EMTs near their breaking point

NEW YORK — As the novel coronavirus crisis deepens on Long Island, even the paramedics are starting to wonder if they can handle the next shift.

For much of the past month, as calls for “shortness of breath” or “trouble breathing” started spiking in Nassau County, medics and technicians had been stepping up to fill overtime requests. Kris Kalender, who heads the union representing about 150 county paramedics, said his members saw the extra work as a gesture of community pride and a chance for some extra money amid the spate of gloomy news.