Giving Rye: Meet Port Chester-Rye-Rye Brook EMS

Giving Rye is a new occasional feature highlighting non-profits and community groups in and around the City of Rye. Today meet Kenny Barton of Port Chester-Rye-Rye Brook EMS.

Your Name: Kenny Barton

Organization: Port Chester-Rye-Rye Brook EMS, Inc.

Your role: Chief Executive Officer / Administrator

MyRye.com: Tell us your organization’s mission.

Barton: Our mission is to deliver the highest quality emergency medical treatment and transportation to our communities with care and professionalism.

How long have you operated in Rye? 

Barton: Our agency has been serving the communities of Port Chester, Rye and Rye Brook for 55 years starting in 1968 (before The Village of Rye Brook’s Incorporation in 1982)

What programming or work in Rye is the organization best known for? 

Barton: 

1. We are the primary 911 Emergency Medical Services (EMS)  provider for the three communities we serve including the City of Rye. Annually, we respond to more than 6,000 calls for service of which more than 1,800 are in the City of Rye.
2. We are an American Heart Association (AHA), National Safety Council (NSC) and American Safety & Health Institute (ASHI) training center providing various training to both city staff and community members throughout the year. We also have instructors credentialed in “Stop the Bleed” and Narcan administration. We offer regularly scheduled classes in CPR and First Aid through the AHA that are posted on the training calendar on our website and schedule other educational opportunities on an as needed basis.
3. We operate an EMS youth Explorer Post for high school kids aged 14-18 to learn about emergency services and the healthcare field in general. There are many members from Rye High School participating in the Post which is in its inaugural year. Post members receive multiple certifications through our training program and can gain ridership status as an observer on the ambulance with our professional crews once their training requirements have been met. They also get credit for providing community service for their hours in the program.

Looking forward to 2024, what will be your top initiatives?

Barton:  

1. We are looking to expand our service delivery to the communities with an additional paramedic resource being added on overnight shifts beginning in January. This will greatly enhance our ability to provide support to our overnight EMS crews and will enable us to initiate care in a more timely way if an ambulance response is delayed for any reason.
2. We are looking to continue to grow our public education and outreach programming. Our training center will have performed hundreds of individual trainings by the end of 2023 and we are hoping to grow our program substantially in 2024 and beyond as more instructors join the ranks and more teaching credentials are obtained by our staff.
3. We aim to continue recruiting new members into the youth Explorer Program. In our first year, we have had more than 65 area high school students join Post #77 and we hope to continue to grow the ranks within the program. We attended the club fair recently at Rye High School and received tremendous interest from students who want to join.

Tell us about the population you serve and how they can get involved with your programming and services. 

Barton: We serve the entire population of the City of Rye as the primary 911 EMS service provider. Our training classes are listed on our website and are open to all members of the Rye community and beyond. The Explorer Post is welcoming to any Rye resident aged 14-18. Financial support is critical to the success of our objectives and is the best way to get involved.

Are you a 501(c)(3) non-profit with tax exempt status? 

Barton: Yes

Looking back across 2023, what were your organization’s top achievements? 

Barton: 

1. We are on pace to surpass our agency’s all time high number for call volume and transports in 2023.
2. Establishment of Explorer Post #77 was a key objective for the year. We were told to expect 10-15 members to join the Post in our first year. Our Post has exploded to more than 65 active members which includes students from 12 different high schools. The Post members established their own governance and brought their agenda for different learning experiences to the Post Advisors.
3. Our training center will have provided more than 1,000 individual trainings in 2023 which was made possible by the creation of a dedicated Training Coordinator.

How can local residents support your organization?

Barton: Unfortunately with the volume of calls that the agency does, we are no longer able to run the service with volunteers. Financial support is the best and most effective way to support our mission and growth.

What local Rye residents and area businesses have been the longest, steadiest supporters of your organization?

Barton: We have received amazing support from the Rye City Council and the Rye City Manager, Greg Usry, in our efforts to provide high quality and reliable service to the residents of the City of Rye. The Agatha Durland Foundation has been a strong, perennial supporter of our efforts. NYS Assemblyman Steve Otis and NY State Senator Shelley Mayer are staunch supporters. Many, many residents of Rye support our annual fundraising appeal to the communities.

Tell us about you:

How long have you been in your current role?

Barton: Just under 2 years

Is the role full time or part time? Paid or volunteer?

Barton: I am the full time, paid administrator for the agency.

How would your friends and family describe you in one word?

Barton: Dedicated

Pick one:

MyRye.com Select from:	Barton:
Coke or Pepsi?	Coke
Regular or diet?	Regular
Action movie or rom com?	Action
Cook, order in or eat out?	Order in
Dog, cat or no pet?	No pet
Balsamic vinaigrette or ranch?	Balsamic
Ruffles Original, Lay’s Barbeque or Funyuns?	Ruffles
Still, sparkling or tap?	Tap!

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go and why, and who would you take with you? 

Barton: I would travel across the country as there is much of it that I have not seen.  I would bring my wife and two kids.

What is your favorite streaming / TV series?

Barton: The Curse of Oak Island

What is your favorite movie?

Barton: Nobody’s Fool (Paul Newman, 1994)

Where do you live in Rye and how many years have you lived in the City? 

Barton: I live in Cold Spring, NY in Putnam County.

Thanks Kenny!

Organization’s website.

Specific donation link.

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