POUGHKEEPSIE – Dutchess County is prioritizing EMS ambulance coverage to address the growing problem of not having ambulances available to respond to calls for service. County Executive Sue Serino announced that county officials, including staff from Dutchess County Emergency Response (DCER), are planning a multi-faceted approach to address gaps in EMS coverage to reduce the response time of ambulances responding to 911 calls.
Among the steps Emergency Response is taking includes the January issuance of a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEI), soliciting interest from ambulance service providers to present potential approaches to supplement and enhance existing EMS coverage, building on the current network of municipal EMS service contracts throughout the county. Responses to the RFEI are due March 1 and will help officials draft a formal Request for Proposals (RFP) for supplemental ambulance service that would be managed by county emergency response.
“Every minute is critical,” Serino said. Noting that many volunteer fire districts provided ambulance service, Serino said “Wonderful volunteers, for many years, provided EMS service but as times got tough, people had to commit more time to work so we lost a lot of those wonderful volunteers.”
EMS is not considered an essential service and is not mandated by the State or Federal government; eliminating state or federal funding sources comparable to those used by police and fire services. The DCER has begun working toward a shift to regional contracts to enhance service, improve response time, ensure comprehensive coverage, and drive down costs, according to county officials.
Currently, many municipalities and fire districts in Dutchess coordinate EMS service in their jurisdiction with volunteers, while others have shifted to outside contractors such as Empress, NDP, and Ambulnz to provide both basic and advanced life support services (BLS and ALS). The costs associated with ambulance…
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