Poughkeepsie, NY… May 18 -24 is National EMS Week and Dutchess County Executive Sue Serino is highlighting the essential role of Emergency Medical Services (EMS) in the community, as the Department of Emergency Response continues to work on the County Executive’s multi-pronged initiative to ensure EMS resources are always available when residents need them most.
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“This EMS Week, we’re recognizing the everyday heroes who answer the call when we need them most. The work they do is nothing short of life-saving, and here in Dutchess, we’re not just saying thank you — we’re investing in real solutions to support them,” said Dutchess County Executive Sue Serino. “From supplemental coverage to public education and recruitment, we’re committed to strengthening our EMS system and making sure help is always there when it’s needed.”
Earlier this month, Acting Emergency Response Commissioner William Beale presented an update to the Dutchess County Legislature’s Public Safety Committee about the various components of the County’s EMS initiative – including supplemental ambulance coverage, regional collaboration, workforce recruitment and retention, public education, fly car grants and more.
Supplemental coverage and regional collaboration
In January 2025, the County began contracting with Empress to provide the county-wide supplemental ambulance coverage, with two Basic Life Support (BLS) Ambulances and one Advanced Life Support (ALS) Fly Car providing 24/7 coverage. The coverage is providing successful results, with 700 total calls responded to from January through April 2025, with 167 patient transports provided. Calls responded to included 42 individuals with chest pains, 20 individuals with difficulty breathing, 13 seizures, and 3 cardiac arrests.
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The County’s supplemental service does not replace local primary coverage. It is dispatched by the Dutchess County 911 Communications Center when primary coverage is not available and mutual aid is dispatched. It is designed as a temporary measure, reducing the burden on mutual aid, while long-term solutions are developed in collaboration with local municipalities, fire districts and rescue squads. The supplemental coverage and overall response data is being continuously reviewed and discussed at regional meetings hosted by County Executive Serino and the Department of Emergency Response with mayors and supervisors, fire chiefs and commissioners as well as EMS rescue squad captains.
Key performance indicators include:
The supplemental coverage is providing much-needed relief in the county's EMS system, enabling public safety dispatchers to get an ambulance on-scene without making multiple dispatch attempts when primary coverage or mutual aid is unavailable. Local resources are thus able to remain in their primary coverage area and not have to be dispatched as mutual aids several towns away.
Public Education
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Dutchess County has recently launched a new public education campaign - “EMS Matters: Essential Care. Saving Lives” - highlighting the importance of EMS and educating the public about when to call for an ambulance—and when not to—helping to alleviate some of the stress on the EMS system.
“The public doesn’t generally realize how limited the resources are when it comes to EMS,” said Beale. “When there is a life-threatening Priority 1 call, we don’t want to have ambulances consumed with responding to Priority 4 non-emergency calls.”
Residents will see the new messaging on Dutchess County Public Transit buses and local billboards and digital messaging and radio advertising is expected to begin in the coming months. The messaging links to the County’s EMS Matters webpages, which includes information about the County's efforts to address EMS challenges; accident prevention and safety resources; as well as information on EMS careers, including scholarship resources and other opportunities.
Fly Car Program
The County Executive’s Fly Car Grant program is also off to a strong start. 10 local fire districts took advantage of the first round of Fly Car grants offered in 2024, each receiving up to $20,000 for the purchase of life-saving equipment such as automatic chest compression systems for cardiac emergencies for their existing fly car vehicles. These fly cars all now have branded, highly visible recruitment messaging on the rear of the vehicles. Fly car vehicles are often first to the scene of an emergency, and the new equipment helps first responders provide vital patient care until an ambulance arrives. Another round of fly car grant funding is expected later in 2025.
Learn more about Dutchess County’s efforts at www.Dutchessny.gov/EMSmatters. The full May 8th presentation to the County Legislature can be viewed online.
