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
Key aspects of ALS level care ...
(ALS) and
basic life support
Basic life support (BLS) is a level of medical care which is used for patients with life-threatening condition of cardiac arrest until they can be given full medical care by advanced life support providers (paramedics, nurses, physicians or any ...
(BLS)
ambulance
An ambulance is a medically-equipped vehicle used to transport 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 ...
transportation services in the Hudson Valley region of
New York, USA. NDP operates ambulances staffed by
emergency medical technician
An emergency medical technician (often, more simply, EMT) is a medical professional that provides emergency medical services. EMTs are most commonly found serving on ambulances and in fire departments in the US and Canada, as full-time and som ...
s (EMTs) and
paramedic
A paramedic is a healthcare professional trained in the medical model, whose main role has historically been to respond to emergency calls for medical help outside of a hospital. Paramedics work as part of the emergency medical services (EMS), ...
s. NDP holds emergency response
9-1-1 contracts in
Dutchess County,
Columbia County and
Litchfield County. Within Dutchess, Columbia, and Litchfield counties, 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, whose parent company is Health Quest, the largest health care system in the
Hudson Valley
The Hudson Valley or Hudson River Valley comprises the valley of the Hudson River and its adjacent communities in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The region stretches from the Capital District (New York), Capital District includi ...
. 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 (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...
’s Office and the
New York State Supreme Court. 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
A certificate of need (CON), in the United States, is a legal document required in many states and some federal jurisdictions before proposed creations, acquisitions, or expansions of healthcare facilities are allowed. CONs are issued by a federal ...
(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)