Nearly a year after Dutchess County launched a $2 million initiative to address shortfalls in its patchwork emergency medical system, newly released third-quarter data shows rural towns in the northeast, including Pine Plains and Milan, continue to experience delayed ambulance arrivals and frequent no-response calls.
Although parts of southern Dutchess reported modest response-time gains, progress in the northeast part of the country has been limited. The system has been burdened by rising costs, a shrinking workforce, and inadequate insurance reimbursement.
In an attempt to improve response times, the county contracted with Empress, a Poughkeepsie-based ambulance provider, to supply supplemental emergency coverage when local squads cannot respond. Since Jan. 1, Empress has deployed three emergency vehicles including a rapid-response advanced life support (ALS) fly car and two basic life support ambulances, one of which was upgraded to an ALS car in October.
In July, August, and September, those supplemental units were dispatched 707 times, up from 486 in the second quarter. But an estimated 72% of those calls went to high-volume cities in southern Dutchess, such as Fishkill, Beacon, and Poughkeepsie. Nearly 65% were cancelled en route because local units were already on site.
William Beale, commissioner of the county’s Department of Emergency Response, attributed the higher dispatch volume to a recent protocol shift. Since Oct.1, supplemental units have been sent immediately if the local primary EMS agency is unresponsive — rather than waiting to see if neighboring mutual aid is available.
“Before Oct. 1, we transported two patients a day,” Beale said. “Now it’s four or five. The new protocol has also increased the number of dispatches in the north and eastern areas of the county.”
Rural Gaps Persist
Pine Plains and Milan — both served exclusively by all-volunteer rescue squads — fielded 61 and 55 emergency calls respectively in the third quarter. Pine Plains received seven supplemental units, up from four the previous quarter; Milan received six, up from five. Stanford, which contracts with Northern Dutchess Paramedics (acquired by Empress in October), recorded 62 calls and received a single county ambulance dispatch. Nearly all the emergency vehicles were canceled en route to the towns.
Local officials in the northern towns say the county-funded coverage has not made a difference.
Brian Walsh, Pine Plains Town Supervisor and Fire Department Chief, said,
“We have no help from the supplemental vehicles,” he said. “They might have come up maybe once, when our ambulance was out on another call.”
Jeff Galm, Second Assistant Chief and 40-year veteran of the Milan Volunteer Fire Department agreed. “Off the top of my head, I only know of one time a county-supplemented ambulance transported somebody from Milan since the program started,” he said.
EMS Response Times
The county’s goal, according to Beale, is to decrease ambulance response times for life-threatening, Priority 1 calls —like a heart attack or serious car accident — to less than nine minutes, the national standard. Life-threatening calls answered in more than 15 minutes and instances where no EMS vehicle is available, “should be as close to 0% as possible,” Beale said.
Countywide, Priority 1 response times have hovered around eight minutes all year — about 15 seconds faster than 2024. An estimated 70% of calls are answered within nine minutes.
But towns like Pine Plains and Milan that rely strictly on volunteer EMS staff — and informal Empress back-up coverage — rank in the bottom five of the 30 municipalities assessed for response times and availability.
Dutchess County Legislator Chris Drago, (D-19), told the Herald in an email that Northern Dutchess continues to be disproportionately underserved by EMS. He said travel distances and lack of additional dedicated units were the main drivers of unacceptable response times. “Some towns saw tiny gains, but the region remains the worst countywide, and several municipalities declined,” he said.
In Pine Plains, the average Priority 1 response time fell to 11 minutes 40 seconds, down from 12:58 in the second quarter. 33% of life-threatening calls were reached within nine minutes, up from 27%, while 27 percent took more than 15 minutes, down from 35 percent. The town missed 16% of all EMS calls — a notable improvement from 26% the previous quarter.
Walsh credited additional squad volunteers and the reinstatement of a duty night. “I think we’re doing better because we have new members; we also went back to having a duty night, where a volunteer EMT and driver are on call,” he said.
Milan’s response times worsened. The average Priority 1 response time rose from 15:05 to 16:22. No calls were reached under nine minutes, down from 13% in the previous quarter, and 43% took more than 15 minutes — unchanged. The town failed to respond to 36% of calls.
Galm said the statistics do not reflect the “tens of thousands of dollars” Milan has invested to equip every EMT with automatic defibrillators, oxygen and medical response bags. “We often have a member on scene beginning initial treatment within minutes of the dispatch,” he said. (The county data tracks ambulance arrival only, not first-responder care.)
He also noted the large geography covered by the Milan and Pine Plains squads is a factor, which includes sections of Gallatin and, in Milan’s case, a portion of Clermont.
Stanford’s numbers remained steady: 45 percent of calls were reached within nine minutes; 7 percent took longer than 15 minutes; and the town maintained a 0 percent inability-to-respond rate. Its average response time slowed slightly, from 10:11 to 11:40.
By contrast, Beacon — which contracts with Ambulnz — outperformed all other municipalities, with an average response time of 5:08 and 95 percent of Priority 1 calls reached within nine minutes.
“There is a correlation between longer response times and volunteer squads,” Beale said. He noted that staffing shortages and long distances are major obstacles, and that Empress’s acquisition of Northern Dutchess Paramedics may alter the informal mutual-aid arrangements long relied upon in the region.
“I understand the pride in being a volunteer, and the difficulties of switching to contracted coverage — but the days of rolling the dice and hoping an ambulance will get out are over,” he said.
Searching for Long-Term Solutions
Beale said the county’s priority is ensuring that all residents receive standard pre-hospital care, and that the supplemental units are designed as an interim measure. The 2026 county budget includes another $2 million for the program.
County Executive Sue Serino has sought federal assistance. In September, she wrote to the state’s congressional delegation urging them to pursue a dedicated EMS funding stream with the Department of Transportation. “The emergency medical system is at a breaking point,” she wrote. “I’m urging you to champion renewed federal investment in EMS.”
Drago, the Democratic county legislator, called both the supplemental program and the federal appeals insufficient.
“Supplemental private EMS is a Band-aid that won’t lower costs for our towns or meaningfully improve response times,” he said. “We can’t wait for the state or federal government to solve this for us.”
Drago has authored a $2 million amendment to Serino’s proposed $651.4 million 2026 executive budget. His plan would build a coordinated countywide system by investing in basic life support capacity, purchasing new ambulances, and establishing long-term EMS planning. Drago is scheduled to introduce the amendment on Monday, Dec. 8.