Six months after Dutchess County launched a supplemental ambulance service to bolster the region’s strained emergency medical system, newly released second-quarter data shows rural communities in Northern Dutchess, including Pine Plains and Milan, remain among the worst-served in the county.
From April through June, Pine Plains recorded an average Priority 1 response time of 12 minutes and 58 seconds, according to the county’s second-quarter EMS report — an improvement from 13:56 in the first quarter, but still well above the 9-minute national benchmark for life-threatening emergencies. Priority 1 calls are the most urgent, involving life-threatening situations such as cardiac arrest, severe trauma, or an overdose. The town had 15 Priority 1 calls in the second quarter; just 27% were reached within nine minutes, and 35% took longer than 15 minutes.
In Milan, which saw eight Priority 1 calls in the second quarter, average response time worsened from 12:48 in the first quarter to 15:05 in the second quarter. Only 13% of calls were reached within nine minutes, and 43% took more than 15 minutes.
Stanford, which contracts with Northern Dutchess Paramedics for a 24/7 Basic Life Support ambulance, posted faster times than Pine Plains and Milan but still fell short of the national standard. The town’s average Priority 1 response time improved from 12:19 in the first quarter to 10:11 in the second quarter. Of its 13 Priority 1 calls in the second quarter, 46% were reached within nine minutes, 8% took more than 15 minutes, and the town had a 0% inability-to-respond rate.
Countywide, the share of Priority 1 calls reached within nine minutes rose to 71% in the second quarter, up from 67% in the first quarter. But Pine Plains and Milan ranked near the bottom for both speed and reliability.
Pine Plains failed to respond to 26% of all EMS calls in the second quarter; Milan failed to respond to 35%. In these cases, another agency — often through mutual aid — ultimately handled the call.
Both Pine Plains and Milan rely entirely on volunteer ambulance service. Pine Plains, Milan, and several other rural municipalities operate under informal “response arrangements without obligation” with Northern Dutchess Paramedics for backup, meaning no guaranteed coverage. Stanford’s contracted NDP ambulance offers guaranteed coverage, but as the data show, it does not eliminate delays entirely.
“We have received more volunteers — yes — and we’ve done a couple things internally,” said Pine Plains Fire Chief and Town Supervisor Brian Walsh. He credited duty-night scheduling and better internal coordination for the 58-second improvement in average Priority 1 response time.
Walsh rejected the idea that county funding for a full-time paid service would solve the problem: “To be 100% honest with you, that would push the volunteers out. That’s a slap in a volunteer’s face.”
Walsh said rural geography and volunteer logistics are major factors contributing to existing response times. “Everybody that’s part of our rescue squad, they’re not necessarily dead smack in the center of town,” he said. “So when the call comes in at night, they’re getting out of bed, driving to the firehouse, and then responding with the ambulance. Nine or 10 minutes is sometimes just unrealistic.”
The county’s $1.47 million contract with Empress EMS — its “supplemental” service, which stations two basic life-support ambulances and one advanced life-support “fly car” to respond when local EMS is unavailable — dispatched four calls to Pine Plains in the second quarter. All were canceled en route because a closer agency handled the call; none resulted in a patient transport. Milan had five supplemental dispatches, of which one was canceled en route, two found no available unit to send, and only one resulted in a patient transport. Stanford received no supplemental service dispatches in the second quarter.
“Behind every delayed response is a family in crisis,” said County Legislator Chris Drago, who represents District 19, which includes Pine Plains. “We continue to spend more money on temporary fixes, and response times are barely getting better, if not worse. It’s clear that the crisis can’t be managed with marketing campaigns and short-term contracts alone.”
County Executive Sue Serino said in a written statement to the Herald that all county residents are benefiting from the supplemental service.
“Residents across Dutchess County, including the rural towns of Northern Dutchess, are certainly seeing a benefit to the County’s supplemental coverage,” she said. “The supplemental EMS units ensure an ambulance responds to all medical calls in Dutchess County – that was not the case before the County began this initiative.”
Serino said the program is still in its early stages and will continue to improve.
“We are pleased to be working together with the local municipalities toward effective, long-term solutions, and are pleased to be seeing positive results,” she said.
William Beale, the county’s acting emergency response commissioner, whose appointment to the position is pending confirmation by the County Legislature, said he is optimistic about improving response times.
“I believe local leaders recognize the challenges of providing EMS coverage in their communities and want to work with the County for solutions,” he told the Herald in a written statement. “Dutchess County has been facilitating collaboration meetings with municipalities, districts, and agencies who have primary EMS responsibility to improve response times in all parts of Dutchess County. Dutchess County supplemental EMS units are just that, supplemental, not primary EMS response units.”
Beale said contractual coverage is a factor in reliability.
“It is important to understand each local community, including Pine Plains, is responsible to have a plan that ensures adequate emergency medical services either at the town level or under the authority of their fire district,” his statement read.
“It is the responsibility of local municipalities, districts and their respective agencies to address the inability of local agencies to respond to emergency calls,” Beale said. “Many communities have contracts in place for commercial provider coverage for guaranteed response in the event that volunteer services are unavailable. In Northern Dutchess, the commercial provider is NDP. There are some communities, including Pine Plains, however, that do not have contracts in place for guaranteed coverage when their local volunteers are unable to respond. Additionally, Pine Plains has provided no plan to guarantee a response from their Rescue Squad ambulance. The County will continue to encourage and work with Pine Plains and other communities to collaboratively establish realistic, long-term plans for primary EMS coverage.”
Read the full EMS performance reports
These official Dutchess County documents contain the complete data on 2025 response times, inability-to-respond rates, and supplemental ambulance dispatches referenced in this article.
Q2 2025 Dutchess County EMS Countywide Report – Full breakdown of municipal and fire district response times, calls reached within nine minutes, and over-15-minute delays.
Q2 2025 Dutchess County Supplemental EMS Service Report – Town-by-town data on dispatches, transports, cancellations, and “not available to send” calls from the county’s supplemental ambulance service.
The New Pine Plains Herald’s recent article on EMS response times exposes a dire situation for Pine Plains residents, including those on Skunks Misery Road, Millerton, NY, who are closer to Millerton’s EMS (3.5 to 4 miles away) than Pine Plains’ (7 to 8 miles). Pine Plains’ Priority 1 calls, with a 26 percent failure-to-respond rate, averaging 12 min 58 secs and 35 percent of Priority 1 calls taking over 15 minutes are unacceptable, and far exceeding the required 9 min response time when lives are at stake. Town Supervisor Brian Walsh’s claiming accepting county money would be a slap in the face to volunteers and that a nine-minute response is unrealistic, dismisses a proven solution that puts lives at risk. His assertion that a nine-minute response is unrealistic due to rural geography ignores the fact that other Dutchess County towns, like Stanford, which contracts with Northern Dutchess Paramedics for guaranteed coverage, achieved a faster 10-minute-11-second average for Priority 1 calls with a 0 percent inability-to-respond rate in 2025. While specific 2025 data or failure rates for the Town of North East (Millerton) are unavailable, its structured North East Fire District and proximity to Skunks Misery suggest far better reliability than Pine Plains’ volunteer-only model. Countywide, 71 percent of Priority 1 calls met the nine-minute benchmark in Q2 2025, showing that towns with funded or contracted services perform better. Residents like those on Skunks Misery Road, who pay taxes to Pine Plains but are closer to Millerton’s EMS deserve a system that prioritizes safety over sentiment. Supervisor Walsh’s stance undervalues the safety of our rural community and overlooks the clear benefits of professional EMS support, which could complement, not replace, our dedicated volunteers. Volunteers become volunteers because they care and want to help- I highly doubt that our volunteers are so caught up in their own ego that they rather see the safety compromised of the people they are committed to protecting. Town supervisor, Mr. Walsh, and the Board need to reexamine this and demonstrate how funding, if offered, would not result in better protection and coverage for all the towns residents.