It's not just New Orleans' police department dealing with staff shortages -- the city's emergency medical services are also having trouble keeping paramedics.
Dr. Meg Marino, director of New Orleans EMS, pleaded for a financial tourniquet from the civil service commission.
"We need action today in order to stop hemorrhaging people," said Dr. Marino, adding that it is not just her overworked staff that is suffering.
"We had someone's mother, someone's brother, who was not receiving the life-saving interventions that they needed, because we did not have the staff," she said.
Council Vice President J.P. Morrell said he is well aware of EMS' shortages.
"We are losing people. We have ambulances that lie parked because no one is driving them," said Morrell. "Inflation is completely out of control...we are the only city in the entire state that does not give a cost-of-living increase every year."
