Northern Dutchess Paramedics (NDP EMS) provides

advanced life support Advanced Life Support (ALS) is a set of life saving protocols and skills that extend basic life support to further support the circulation and provide an open airway and adequate ventilation (breathing). Components These include: * Tracheal i ...

(ALS) and

basic life support Basic life support (BLS) is a level of medical care which is used for patients with life-threatening illnesses or injuries until they can be given full medical care by advanced life support providers (paramedics, nurses, physicians). It can be p ...

(BLS)

ambulance An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...

transportation services in the Hudson Valley region of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, USA. NDP operates ambulances staffed by

emergency medical technician An emergency medical technician (EMT), also known as an ambulance technician, is a health professional that provides emergency medical services. EMTs are most commonly found working in ambulances. In English-speaking countries, paramedics a ...

s (EMTs) and

paramedic A paramedic is a registered healthcare professional who works autonomously across a range of health and care settings and may specialise in clinical practice, as well as in education, leadership, and research. Not all ambulance personnel are p ...

s. NDP holds emergency response

9-1-1 , usually written 911, is an emergency telephone number for the United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Palau, Argentina, Philippines, Jordan, as well as the North American Numbering Plan (NANP), one of eight N11 codes. Like other emergency n ...

contracts in

Dutchess County Dutchess County is a county in the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 295,911. The county seat is the city of Poughkeepsie. The county was created in 1683, one of New York's first twelve counties, and later or ...

, Columbia County and Litchfield County. Within Dutchess County, NDP has been assigned a department ID number of "84".

History

NDP was founded in 1994 by paramedics Edward Murray and Robert Latimer and was New York State's first licensed, stand alone advanced life support first response service. Since then the company expanded to advanced life support services, as well as basic life support services and ambulance and inter-facility transport. Outside of the response mode, NDP offers EMS continuing education, first aid and safety training for the community and classes for allied health professionals.

Alamo/NDP merger

On December 14, 2007, NDP announced a proposed merger with

Alamo EMS Alamo Emergency Medical Services, Inc. (Alamo EMS) was an Advanced Life Support (ALS) and Basic Life Support (BLS) ambulance service owned by Health Quest, with transportation services in the Hudson Valley region of New York. Alamo operated a ...

, whose parent company is Health Quest, the largest health care system in the

Hudson Valley The Hudson Valley (also known as the Hudson River Valley) comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York. The region stretches from the Capital District including Albany and Troy south to ...

. The application was the first step in the regulatory process toward creating an organization which was aimed at better serving the Hudson Valley community in providing emergency and ambulance services. The joint venture also required approval from the New York State

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general or attorney-general (sometimes abbreviated AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. The plural is attorneys general. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have exec ...

’s Office and the

New York State Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

. Health Quest and Northern Dutchess Paramedics anticipated that the regulatory process would take approximately six to twelve months. However, on December 17, 2008, the two companies announced that the merger had fallen through, and would not be completed. The companies claimed they had differences that could not be settled. If merged, it would have been the largest independent ambulance provider in the Hudson Valley Region.

Loss of contracts

On November 21, 2008, at 5:30 pm, NDP officially lost its ALS contract for the towns of Beekman and Pawling, for failure to have an official Certificate of Need (CON). Alamo EMS resumed operations in the two towns. NDP claims the loss of the CON was no fault of theirs and that the responsibility lies with the town boards of Pawling and Beekman. In mid-November, it had been discovered that the New York State Department of Health had never issued NDP a CON for Southern Dutchess County and NDP should never have been allowed to operate in that area without the CON.

Ambulette Division

NDP operated an ambulette division consisting of 6 multipassenger wheelchair vans. This division was formed in 1998 to meet the needs of facilities served by the agency. In 2016, shortly after the loss of a major contract, the division was disbanded due to decreased revenue.

References

External links

Northern Dutchess Paramedics Home Page
{{Dutchess County FD Ambulance services in the United States Medical and health organizations based in New York (state)