Greene County Paramedics patch Greene County Paramedics
Our story

Built because
the county needed it.

Twenty-six years and counting: five stations, six units, and a mission that hasn't changed since the first unit went in service.

Mission

Why we exist

To provide the highest level of exemplary pre-hospital clinical care to the residents and guests of Greene County, in a safe and professional manner, through a team of knowledgeable, skillful and caring certified EMS providers.

History

From a patchwork to a system

In the late 1990s, emergency medical care in Greene County was a patchwork of volunteer rescue squads and contracted commercial paramedic ambulances. Volunteerism was declining and the private services were unreliable. Something more needed to be done.

Greene County Emergency Medical Systems, Inc. — "Greene EMS," or "Greene County Paramedics" — was formed as a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit with the support of the Greene County Rural Health Network, to provide high-quality, reliable advanced life support to the residents and visitors of the county.

Two paramedic units, covering the mountaintop and the Town of Cairo, went in service on August 1, 2000. They answered 550 calls that first year. A third unit and the Town of Catskill followed in 2001; by 2004 every township had signed on to the fly car system and four paramedics were operating around the clock. As call volume grew, the part-time administrator became a full-time Chief of Operations in 2007. In April 2020, Medic 8 went in service at Prattsville Hose Company as the fifth full-time unit, serving the most rural part of the county, where hospital transports routinely run an hour or more.

Today, Greene EMS fields some of the most highly trained, best equipped and technologically advanced paramedics in New York State.

Medic 3 in fresh snow at the Cairo station
Recognition
EMS Agency of the Year — REMO Hudson-Mohawk, 2005 · 2015 · 2023 Excellence in Quality & Innovation — 2024 ALS Provider of the Year — 2023 Harriet C. Webster Award for Leadership — 2024
2000Two units in service. 550 calls.
2004Every township on board. Four medics, 24/7.
2015Busiest year on record: 3,921 calls. Agency of the Year.
2020Medic 8 opens in Prattsville.
2023ICU ventilators in every unit. Agency of the Year.
NextGrant-funded equipment arriving to expand critical care further.
Through the years

The same job, better tools every decade

Decker ALS Unit 450, a white Jeep Cherokee, with its paramedic
The first fly cars: a Jeep Cherokee ALS unit from the contracted paramedic days of the 1990s.
Town of Windham Ambulance Medic 9 Jeep Cherokee outside the Hensonville post office
Medic 9 on the mountaintop before Greene EMS, when the Town of Windham ran its own paramedic.
A flight paramedic beside a medical helicopter on a mountaintop landing pad
Long before the Tahoes: the helicopter was the only way to move a critical patient off the mountain quickly.
Greene County EMS Paramedics Medic 7 Jeep Cherokee at a scenic overlook
Medic 7 in the early 2000s, at the same overlook as the photo beside it.
Greene County Paramedics Medic 7 Chevrolet Tahoe at the same overlook
Medic 7 today, same spot.
Medic 9, a Chevrolet Tahoe in the 2010s green-and-gold graphic scheme, at sunset outside the Hunter station
Medic 9 in the heavy green-and-gold graphic scheme of the 2010s.
Administration & operations

The people running it

Mark R. Evans Agency President
Dr. Craig A. Stanger Medical Director
Steve Near Chief of Operations
Patricia McAneny Deputy Chief
Four Shift Captains One per shift, on the road
Greene County Paramedics leadership and partners standing in front of an air medical helicopter in its hangar Chief Near (center right) pictured with a New York State Assemblywoman, physicians, and LifeNet staff, discussing prehospital blood in New York State.
Greene County Paramedics 93A County Route 84, Cairo, NY 12413 · (518) 622-8092 · Chief@greene-ems.com
In an emergency, always call 911.