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Mid Hudson Times , Wednesday , February 14 , 2018

PUBLIC AGENDA

WEDNESDAY , FEBRUARY 14

Town of New Windsor Planning Board , 7 p . m . Town Hall , 555 Union Ave ., New Windsor .

THURSDAY , FEBRUARY 15 City of Newburgh IDA , 3 p . m . City Hall Law Library , 2nd Floor , 83 Broadway , Newburgh . Special board meeting to move forward with the awarding of a contract based on an RFP released earlier this month for forestry management services at 5 Scobie Drive . Town of Newburgh Planning Board , 7 p . m . Town Hall , 1496 Route 300 , Town of Newburgh .

TUESDAY , FEBRUARY 20

City of Newburgh Planning Board , 7:30 p . m . City of Newburgh Activity Center , 401 Washington St .

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The Mid Hudson Times ( USPS 000-5947 ) is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday at Newburgh , NY 12550 , with offices at 300 Stony Brook Court , Newburgh , NY Single copy : $ 1 at newsstand . By mail in Orange , Ulster or Sullivan Counties : $ 40 annually , $ 44 out of county . Periodicals permit at Newburgh , NY POSTMASTER : Send address changes to Mid Hudson Times , 300 Stony Brook Court , Newburgh , NY 12550 .

By WAYNE A . HALL

Calls for volunteer ambulance service are rising in the busy town of New Windsor , says Volunteer Ambulance Corps chief Michael Bigg .

“ Of all the volunteer ambulances we are the busiest in Orange County ,” Bigg adds

One reason . Hard work and constant training that pays off . So much so that everybody else calls New Windsor for mutual aid .

Recognition for New Windsor came from the Regional Emergency Services MS Council that promotes high quality pre-hospital care .

“ We ’ re not a paid service so to get that award is pretty remarkable ,” Bigg says .

He predicts “ we ’ re going to go over 4,000 calls for service this year .”

At Stewart ’ s crowded recent air show “ we treated patients last year and transported about 30 to the hospital from heat exhaustion , cuts and bruises and cardiac events ” says Bigg . “ That ’ s a huge task for us and we also had to cover our town .”

During the Verla chemical company fire both crews were already on other calls .

New Windsor paramedics are in demand because they can administer life saving procedures and medications lesser levels of training don ’ t permit . They train constantly .

So they are in mutual aid demand by other municipalities .

And the New Windsor volunteer corps is more popular since the town bought a super life saving heart machine called “ Lucas 3 ” that performs perfect compressions and never tires like human hands do . Its record of saving lives is hailed by emergency professionals .

The pump worked so well on a woman who seemed to be gone that she opened her eyes after the Lucas got going , says Bigg .

Constant upgrades like this heart pumping device have earned the New Windsor Corps excellence of service awards such as the recently bestowed “ the EMS Agency of the Year ” from Hudson Valley Regional Emergency Services Council ’ s Advanced Life Support EMS Agency for 2016 , with New Windsor volunteer Nicholas Gardiner ( cq ) the ALS Provider for 2016 .

All of the corps constant training , and dedication , says Bigg , has brought the corps the reputation for excellence that means New Windsor corps is a mutual aid favorite .

Wayne A . Hall

New Windsor Volunteer Ambulance Corps chief Michael Bigg demonstrates the crucial Lucas 3 chest compression machine that saves heart attack victims .

New Windsor responders are all paramedics a level of high training that lets them take life-saving measures .

There are not many other perks for these corps members “ except you ’ re doing a job for the community .” says Bigg .

And knowing that you ’ ve saved lives . And helped others to save lives .

Bigg counts five full-time paramedics and 10 part-time paramedics and they are constantly training and learning .

“ We ’ re the busiest service in the area ... this year we had a female passenger on an incoming flight at Stewart who had to be defibrillated multiple times to restart her heart ,” says Bigg . “ There wasn ’ t any pulse . She made a full recovery .”

New Windsor ’ s responders will be part of a “ huge airport drill ,” says Bigg at the airport in May .

If all that activity suggests additional space for the volunteers and more of them , that is the idea , says Bigg . The corps quarters built for 1,000 calls for service is too small for the crews handling 4,000 calls a year .

Recently a guy had a heart attack while mowing his lawn .

“ Two paramedics were there in three minutes ,” recalls Bigg .

They shocked him multiple times and he work up in the ambulance and they integrated him .. Full recovery .

He was dancing with his daughter at our dinner .

That ’ s what this is all about .”