MONTICELLO — Sullivan County Emergency Medical Services (EMS) leaders, along with police and fire agencies, held a parade in front of the Government Center in Monticello on Wednesday to honor and thank frontline workers during National EMS Week.

The event was particularly meaningful as many of the EMS, police and firemen and women, many of whom are volunteers, are putting themselves at risk to help others during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We're living in a crazy time right now. I've never seen anything like this before and everybody is rising to the occasion,” Legislature Vice Chairman Mike Brooks told the crowd. “We're very proud of each and every one of you. So thank you for what you do, it's so very important.”

National EMS Week is celebrated this year from May 17-23. It is the 46th annual event, which began in 1974 when President Gerald Ford authorized the ceremony to celebrate EMS practitioners and the work they do in the nation's communities.

County E911 Coordinator and EMS Coordinator Alex Rau thanked Albee Bockman, County Coroner and President of Mobilemedic, for organizing the event.

He also thanked the emergency responders for working during the pandemic under difficult conditions.

“The last three months have been very physically draining on EMS providers - wearing PPE, hoping you get PPE, going into unknown situations, not to mention the psychological toll it takes on everyone,” Rau remarked. “Not only EMS workers but all of our partner agencies that are here as well.”

Rau also presented a plaque to Dr. Carlos Holden, Emergency Department Medical Director at Catskill Regional Medical, thanking him for his service as he moves on to another job in Connecticut, saying he was “a great ally to emergency medical services in the county.”

EMS workers wore white glow sticks to represent the EMS thin white line, which honors those who have lost their lives in the line of duty and honoring those in the field each and every day.