I speak as a resident of NYC and a former vollie EMT. There is currently no purpose for vollies in NYC.all the vollies in NYC get their calls via listening to PD and buffing. Yes there are some vollies who have a loyal following of patients who actually call their emergency hotline number (mainly hatzolah), but those are few and far between. vollies were created in NYC when the ems coverage stank. now in 2015 my personal feeling is that most vollies should be shut down, problem is they are all friends with the politicians who get them grants for new ambulances, and if the city would shut them down there would be a whole outcry about how the city doesn't care about dying patients, and 95% of voters have not a clue how the ems system works. This will all come to an end one day when unfortunately someone will get hurt by a speeding ambulance to a call they were not really assigned to. This was my main reason for leaving the vollie, I couldn't stand risking my life to beat a dispatched ambulance to the call.
(I should also mention that there technically is a mutual aid agreement between FDNY and the vollies, most agencies can count on one hand the times they have been called)
(I should also mention that there technically is a mutual aid agreement between FDNY and the vollies, most agencies can count on one hand the times they have been called)