Wallkill Valley Times Feb. 27 2019

Vol. 37, No. 9 3 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 27, 2019 Spanish guitar Page 16 3 ONE DOLLAR Annual guide to the valley w w w .W V T I M ESON L I N E . c om Critical delays Town of Crawford reports long EMS response times By LAURA FITZGERALD [email protected] Crawford’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) response times are longer than the ideal time, a statistic that Orange County Legislature Rob Sassi said puts residents at risk. “It’s critical for the Town of Crawford, which is a rural area. We don’t have proper service, and it needs to be addressed,” Sassi said. According to the Orange County EMS Summit report, Basic Life Support (BLS), or non-life-threatening calls, took an average of 15 minutes and 20 seconds for Pine Bush EMS. The Pine Bush EMS responded in an average of 15 minutes and 30 seconds for Advanced Life Support (ALS), or life- threatening calls, and Mobile Life Support Services, Inc. responded in approximately 19 minutes, on average. Frank Cassanite, Orange County Deputy Commissioner of Emergency Services, said the ideal response time for ALS calls is around eight minutes. According to a 2017 national study published in Jama Surgery, the U.S. median response time for EMS services was six minutes for suburban areas and 13 minutes for rural areas. Cassanite said for BLS calls, Pine Bush Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is dispatched first. If there is no response within four minutes, the call goes to mutual aid, which for Crawford is Mobile Continued on page 17 A nything G oes Walden mayor, trustees unopposed in village election By TED REMSNYDER Carl Aiello Valley Central theater students rehearse a number from their upcoming production of Anything Goes, Saturday, at the Galleria at Crystal Run. The curtain will rise on the 2019 spring musical on the weekend of April 5-7. The upcoming Walden village election on March 19 will see Mayor Susan Rumbold and three village trustees up for re-election for fresh two-year terms, but this year’s balloting may be anticlimactic, as all four races will be non-contested, ensuring new terms for all four incumbents. Trustees Faith Moore and Lynn Thompson will each secure their second terms on the council, while Trustee Brian Sebring will gain his seventh term on the board. Rumbold will earn her third term as mayor, and the official is eager to continue in the role for another two-year stint. “As always, I’m happy to continue my service to the Village of Walden,” she said. “I think there’s been many positive things that have happened for the village in the past year, and I look forward to continuing in that direction to bring positives to the village.” The third-floor offices in Village Continued on page 17 SERVING CRAWFORD, GARDINER, MAYBROOK, MONTGOMERY, PINE BUSH, SHAWANGUNK, WALDEN AND WALLKILL