By Paul Lathrop | Contributing Editor
“People call 911, not because they are having a good day usually, it’s because they are having a really bad one, so when I can get there, and I can make a difference, and it’s got that immediate return factor it’s actually a really cool feeling to be able to do that and to be able to legitimately able to work at saving somebody’s life.”
So says Lauren Hartnett, a New York City Paramedic and firearms trainer. She is also the New York State representative of the DC Project, a program that brings female Second Amendment advocates from all 50 states to Washington DC to meet with members of Congress.
Hartnett was a guest recently on The Daily Bullet.
“I definitely get to see the best and worst,” she said, “and I also get to do the best (as a paramedic) that a lot of people don’t get to see.”
New York City does not allow emergency medical response crews to be armed. Hartnett explained that the arming of Paramedics and EMTs has been a national debate.
“It has been a bit of a debate within the EMS community itself,” she said, “just because where do we draw the line? We are helping people, and then if we decide that we are going to carry a firearm, does that automatically now switch us to a different level? Besides all of the training, how is the public going to view us?”
Hartnett noted an alarming trend of calling 911 and reporting a false situation to get a medical crew to respond and rob them.
“This actually just happened twice, in New York City to 2 EMS crews,” she stated. “There were calls set up specifically to draw in an EMS crew, and our response system is very catered to what the call is.”
She explained that a call for a cardiac arrest would get a response crew of 11 people. However, a call for stomach pain only has a team of two dispatched. The responding EMS team shows up to what is supposed to be a routine call and are then robbed of their radios and equipment.
Hartnett also reflected on what it is like to be a firearms trainer in New York City.
“It’s a very difficult and long process,” she explained. “It’s also a two-fold process for me. Because a lot of people don’t believe you can actually own a forearm. So I come out of the gate with them with the education and the knowledge that I have gained over the last 11 years of doing this.”
Clarifying that the permitting process only allows a person to keep a handgun in the house, Hartnett said, “We are a may issue (state), so you won’t get a carry permit unless you can prove need, which usually has to deal with monetary needs. You can own and possess in your home, travel to and from ranges, and recently just got that rule overturned where we can now leave the city with it and go upstate, wherever we are legally allowed to have it.”
Hartnett then explained how a new person could get training on how to use a firearm in New York City without legally being able to touch a gun.
“A lot of times they will go to Jersey because it’s a little bit easier and you can rent handguns in Jersey,” she said. “In New York City, there is a very limited amount of ranges, and they are all private, except for one. What I have been telling people is that I will take people out to Jersey, I will train them there and get them familiar. I’ll start them with the process.”
Hartnett says that she never charges people to help with paperwork.
