MONTICELLO  — The Bureau of EMS released dispatch statistics by Town/Village for the month of June, which saw a total of 385 incidents. The highest number of dispatches went to the Village of Monticello, with 66 dispatches, and the Village of Bloomingburg had the fewest with only one incident resulting in an EMS dispatch. Other high volume dispatch locales were Thompson (65), Mamakating (56), Fallsburg (44), and the Village of Liberty (40).

Public Safety Commissioner Scott Schulte said that it’s imperative that you stay on the line when you make a 911 call; he said there is a large number of hangup calls they get that emergency crews then have to investigate. He urged the public to stay on the line if they accidentally call 911 so the dispatcher knows it’s not an actual emergency; this will save time, resources, effort, and potentially lives.

“The increase in 911 calls consumes a big portion of dispatcher’s time, also law enforcement having to respond to hang-up 911 calls,” he said.

Schulte encouraged people “to stay on the phone to speak with a dispatcher until they either tell them to hang up or a responder is there.”