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Emergency Responders Celebrated In Poughkeepsie

POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. - They're the people no one wants to see.

From L: Peter Schinella, Brian Wieczolek, Eric Calderon, Matt Hall of Mobile Life Support Services, Inc.

From L: Peter Schinella, Brian Wieczolek, Eric Calderon, Matt Hall of Mobile Life Support Services, Inc.

Photo Credit: Skip Pearlman

But when you need them, you'll be really glad they're around.

Emergency Medical Technicians and Paramedics were on hand at Saturday night's Independence Day celebration in Poughkeepsie, and while they were hoping for a quiet night and a few laughs, they said that rarely proves to be the case.

"We provide standby coverage for the patrons, for the fireworks, the carnival," Peter Schinella, Assistant Director of Field Operations for Mobile Life Support Services, Inc., told Daily Voice. "There are a lot of people on the walkway, we have an ambulance on the Walkway as well.

"A lot of these are incident-free, until the last fireworks go off," Schinella added. "Then we always have ankle injuries, minor car incidents, someone sick... there's always something. You never know what you might encounter. Last year one of the guys on the (fireworks) barge got hurt. Anything is possible... that's why we're here."

MLSS has its headquarters in New Windsor, has been around for 35 years, and has 450 employees.

They take over 90,000 calls each year, and have 42 to 44 ambulances per day on the streets in three counties they serve - Dutchess, Ulster and Orange.

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