Did Mayor de Blasio forget the city’s first responders are a bit busy these days?

Hizzoner dropped by a Manhattan EMS station Monday and six EMTs and paramedics — and their three city ambulances — were taken out of service for nearly three hours so they could be used as props in a photo op.

The EMS union and bitter medics said City Hall’s staged media event at the Lower East Side’s Station 4, where de Blasio dropped off lunch for the emergency workers, put New Yorkers’ lives at risk.

“We were furious we had to sit there and be puppets to this photo opportunity,” said one of the EMS workers. “We didn’t want to be there. We would rather go out on a job.

“[Three] units being out of service from our area just puts more stress on other units, and once those units go on a job, it kind of dominoes into a busier day for every other unit and more risk for patients and families in that area, too.”

Callers to 911, from Houston Street to South Ferry, summoned ambulances eight times between 11:06 a.m., when the EMTS and medics were first sidelined, to the end of de Blasio’s grip-and-grin at 1:30 pm., according to FDNY data.

“They were told to stand around, pretend everything is nice and pretty over there, but they felt under duress,” said Local 2507 president Oren Barzilay of the six idled FDNY rescuers. “They were ordered to do something against their will.”

“EMS is kind of fed up with the mayor,” explained the EMS worker, who said Station 4 crews even tried to dodge de Blasio by sitting in their ambulances at a nearby cross street.

The EMS union has long battled City Hall for raises, and in recent months, has fought for line of duty death benefits for members who die of COVID-19 contracted on the job.

The medics were alerted by dispatch at about 11 a.m. that they were being put on “administrative” down time. The directive came from FDNY/EMS headquarters, Barzilay said.

They were stunned when they learned it was because of the mayor’s visit.

“We don’t get breaks like that. We are usually eating in the truck on available status,” the worker said. “We don’t get lunch breaks. They get mad if we’re [decontaminating] the truck for too long.

“I could see if they put us on standby where you are still available, but this [put us] completely out of service.”

De Blasio and FDNY Commissioner Daniel Nigro showed up around noon — with carloads of food from Harold’s in Soho in tow and an entourage of aides and TV cameras.

Photos show him chatting with a group of uniformed EMS members, walking through the station and hauling Harold’s bags inside.

“We kinda saw right through it — him pointing at stuff in the station, just posing for pictures, making it seem like he cared,” the worker said.

They refused to eat the lunch their boss delivered.

“The mayor did this photo op to advance himself while on the city clock,” Barzilay said.

The mayor’s office said the visit was part of an effort between the groups Frontline Foods and 9/11 Day to mark International Firefighters Day.

“To claim that that the Mayor’s visit was for any reason other than to express gratitude for our brave EMS members is absurd,” spokeswoman Laura Feyer said.

The FDNY, when asked if backup crews were assigned to cover for the three units, said the event “had no impact on operations,” noting “call volume has come down considerably in the last two weeks.”