NY Mandates That All Ambulances are Equipped with Dash Cameras

Dash cameras will soon be mandatory for all New York State (NYS) ambulances and emergency medical response vehicles. While many larger EMS organizations already have the technology, the smaller agencies will need to raise money to fulfill to meet the mandate.

RochesterFirst.com reports that the mandate is aimed at improving safety and accountability.

The requirements of the dash cameras were spelled out in an October 2025 ambulance equipment regulation, which include: 

• Records from the driver’s perspective at least towards the front of the vehicle;
• Is activated by “g” force change; 
• Is capable of recording pre and post activation; and 
• Is capable of recording sounds and video and retain such recording for a period no less than 10 days.

Dash cameras have been used by Perinton Ambulance for almost six years, according to Chief Robert Cieri. The majority of Rochester-area agencies have already equipped their whole fleet with the technology.

“We’ve had several instances where they have saved us on the liability end, but also for driver training and employee improvement,” Cieri said.

“Our drivers can understand what they can improve on and make those improvements, and we can give them that feedback in real time,” Chief Timothy Wood of Newark-Arcadia Volunteer Ambulances told News10NBC, noting his agency has had cameras for nearly a decade. 

Wood said that when Newark-Arcadia first added dash cams to their fleet, their team considered this issue and came up with a solution that satisfied them.

“Our solution is pretty cost effective, but there are solutions out there that are not,” Wood said. “We found a solution through Verizon Wireless, we can pull video in real time and live view those cameras and see what’s going on live.”

 Newark-Arcadia has outfitted EMS providers with body-worn cameras in addition to dash cams.

“We can actually see what happened on a call, coach providers through doing a better job the next time or praising them for the good things that they do already,” Wood said.

For the past 15 years, Henrietta-based CHS Mobile Integrated Healthcare has equipped all of its ambulances with dash cams. Nowadays, the majority of paramedics and EMTs don't even consider it.

“It’s just been part of what we do, part of our training process, it’s part of our QA process,” Frank Manzo, chief of CHS Mobile Integrated Health Care, said.

Hard or abrupt stops, strong turns or any notable G-force cause the cameras to switch on. Additionally, they activate when a cell phone is seen in a hand or even when a driver yawns while operating a vehicle, which may indicate sleepy driving.

Cieri expressed his concerns for how the cost could put added pressure on some agencies in upstate New York to make the requirement.

“I feel bad for some of the smaller agencies,” Cieri said. “It’s an unfunded mandate, and it’s an expense that agencies will have to take on.”

“It could be $3,000 to $5,000 (per camera) and then you usually pay a subscription fee for them because the video is usually cloud based,” Manzo told News10NBC. “You also have to put the policies and procedures in place with it as well.”