Paulin and SVAC Hold Press Conference on New Law Expanding Community Paramedicine
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New York State Assembly Member Amy Paulin and Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corp (SVAC) held a press conference on Monday July 31 celebrating the passage of a new law (Ch. 137) which expands the services community paramedics can provide under New York State law – keeping residents healthy and safe and lessening the burden on local emergency rooms – establishing a successful model for EMTs throughout New York State.
The role of community paramedics greatly expanded during Covid, when there was a dire need to have ample Covid testing, provide vaccines, and keep elderly and immunocompromised residents out of emergency rooms and hospitals. During that time the Governor issued and until now has renewed Executive Order No. 4 which expanded the role of community paramedicine to allow paramedics to provide these additional services.
Under the Executive Order community paramedics were also able to offers flu vaccinations, as well as RSV, strep and flu testing. SVAC partnered with White Plains Hospital starting a formalized program where they provide patient at-home care and follow-ups including drawing blood for labs, giving fluids, and treating patients with pneumonia and diabetes.
Photo by Jon Thaler: see more here.The new Community Paramedicine law essentially establishes a pilot program allowing paramedics to continue providing these services for two years.
State, county, and local officials, community paramedics, and doctors from White Plains Hospital were present to speak about the success of the expanded community paramedicine program to date, how it has benefitted residents in our region, and asked that it be continued beyond the 2-year period allocated under the new law.
County Executive George Latimer: Photo by Jon Thaler. See more here.“I’m proud to have authored and passed this new law which enables SVAC and all New York State paramedics to continue the amazing work they did during the past 3 years under the Governor’s executive order,” said NYS Assembly Member and Assembly Health Committee Chair Amy Paulin. “What SVAC did during Covid was herculean – vaccinating and testing thousands, and providing high-quality at-home care for the elderly and immuno-compromised. I’ve lived in this community for over 40 years and have personally witnessed time and again the incredible work of our Scarsdale volunteer ambulance corp. These are highly trained and skilled paramedics who live and breathe healthcare. They’re our beacons of light in life’s darkest moments. During Covid they served thousands throughout our County. We needed them, and they stepped up. Their partnership with White Plains Hospital to provide at-home care to those in need has and will continue to help and protect our most vulnerable. The new law contains a clause allowing for expanded community paramedicine for 2 years. I’m confident that SVAC and our amazing NYS paramedics will show everyone that the change should be permanent. This new legislation is a victory for SVAC and all New Yorkers, allowing every community to adopt the transformative model pioneered by SVAC.”
“SVAC is the smallest advanced life support agency in Westchester County, but in the last three years has pulled off what most would have deemed impossible,” said SVAC President David Raizen. “During Covid, when everything else was shutting down, SVAC opened their doors widely to the residents of Westchester County. We provided tens of thousands of tests and vaccinations, either at home or at our headquarters. As COVID continued to get worse, we expanded our in-home visits in order to keep at-risk and immuno-compromised patients safe. Since then we’ve continued to provide home visits, and outcomes have been incredible – across the board patients are healthier and safer. I thank Assemblywoman Amy Paulin for her tenaciousness in authoring and fighting for this new law. Our only goal is caring for people, and with this new law we’ll be able to continue to do so.”
Village of Scarsdale Mayor Justin Arest said, “As the Mayor of Scarsdale, I’ve seen firsthand the benefits of allowing an expanded community paramedicine program. Throughout the pandemic SVAC provided testing, vaccinations and vital at-home care for the elderly and immunocompromised. With this new legislation, their innovative healthcare strategy has the ability to revolutionize the way we utilize emergency medical services, focusing not only on immediate response and transport, but also on prevention and ongoing care. It’s a solution for the future that could reshape our healthcare landscape. My hope is that it is made permanent and expanded throughout the State for the benefit of all New Yorkers.”
Scarsdale Village Manager Rob Cole said, “On behalf of the Village of Scarsdale, I extend thanks and appreciation to our NYS elected officials, particularly Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, for recognizing the value and importance of community paramedicine by extending for two years the period during which the related services provided by the Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corp (SVAC) are authorized to continue. At the same time, I recognize the selfless dedication of the SVAC team under the capable leadership of David Raizen for their years of service to the Scarsdale community. Thank you to all having had a role in starting this important program and helping to sustain it on a moving forward basis.”
State Senator Shelley Mayer said, “I am so very pleased that this bill, which allows the Scarsdale Volunteer Ambulance Corp and EMS providers to continue their outstanding work in providing quality health services, has been signed into law. The care they provide has been proven necessary during the pandemic, and community paramedicine is an essential element of care that our neighbors need. I am so proud to represent SVAC, which has pioneered this essential health service, along with the White Plains Hospital and other healthcare institutions. Thank you to Assemblymember Amy Paulin and State Senator Gustavo Rivera for your leadership on this issue. Most importantly, I thank the countless EMS providers who took innovative action when the community needed it.”
NYS Assembly Member Dana Levenberg said, "We saw during the pandemic how effective our EMS teams could be at delivering particular types of care when it was needed most. I was glad to be able to connect OVAC with the resources they needed to gain paramedicine certification when I was Ossining Town Supervisor. I'm proud to have voted for this legislation and pleased it has been passed into law, as it will enable our trusted EMS personnel to continue the efficient delivery of necessary services in our communities."
State Senator Pete Harckham said, “This enacted legislation, which allows our local ambulance corps to continue in their role as community paramedicine providers, is helping to reduce ER visits and 911 emergency calls. Making healthcare services more widely available in our communities as such is leading to improved patient care and an increased quality of life for residents. I thank my legislative colleagues State Senator Rivera and Assemblywoman Paulin for their leadership, and I share the gratitude of the entire community for the service of our first responders. ”
Ossining Town Supervisor Liz Feldman said, “We are very proud of our Ossining Volunteer Ambulance Corps and in particular Chief Nick Franzoso Jr. Their quick response and outside of the box thinking really enhanced the safety and welfare of our entire community during the Covid pandemic. The expanded Community Paramedicine programs have made a real difference in our outreach in particular to our seniors, immigrant communities and homebound individuals. I am very grateful that Governor Hochul has expanded this program for another two years, and I hope to see it made permanent in the future.”
Dr. Farrukh Jafri, Medical Director of WPH Cares at White Plains Hospital said, “Our community paramedics are essential to ensuring that our most vulnerable patients receive the right care, at the right place, at the right time. They are trusted members of our community, and this proactive approach helps to extend our reach beyond the walls of the hospital to care for patients in their home and decrease preventable Emergency Department visits. We are thankful to Assemblywoman Paulin for championing this law and to SVAC and our local paramedics for their commitment to keeping our community healthy.”
County Executive George Latimer said, "The expansion of community paramedicine, signed into law by Governor Hochul, reflects our collective commitment to service and innovation allowing SVAC, OVAC and ambulance services throughout Westchester County to continue to serve communities in an expanded role. Thanks to the leadership of Assembly Member Amy Paulin and the support of our state representatives, we have secured the path to a safer and healthier future for our communities."
“Paramedics are an important part of the health care delivery team and help us in some of our most difficult times of need,” State Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said. “I thank Assemblywoman Paulin for acknowledging the exceptional work of paramedics and creating this bill to expand their life-saving roles.”
State Senator Gustavo Rivera said, “Paramedics provide critical services to New Yorkers and this law expands their ability to deliver much needed preventive care and keep more New Yorkers out of emergency rooms, especially in underserved communities. Our healthcare system continues to be challenged and it is essential that our policies leverage our existing workforce to provide accessible, quality care. I am proud to have worked with Assemblymember Paulin in drafting and passing this bill and commend Governor Hochul for expediently signing it into law.”
Locals Donate 50 Pints of Blood
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On Wednesday, July 19th the Scarsdale Public Library hosted a Blood Drive for the New York Blood Center. In total, there were 50 pints of blood donated, exceeding expectations. According to the Red Cross, every two seconds someone in the United States needs blood or platelets, with approximately 29,000 units needed every day. Each blood donation can provide 3 units, and one donation can help save more than one life. There will be another opportunity to donate at the Scarsdale Public Library in October.
Feeding Westchester Honors Two
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Gloria DeucherFeeding Westchester honored Gloria Deucher and Heidi Seruya, both of Scarsdale, for contributing their time in the fight against hunger at a volunteer appreciation luncheon at Captain Lawrence Brewing Company in Elmsford, NY on June 22, 2023.
Gloria Deucher has volunteered Monday to Friday for the past 10 years helping to sort and pack food at Feeding Westchester. And Heidi Seruya packs produce bags every Tuesday for the Child Feeding Program.
Within the past year, more than 3,900 volunteers contributed over 12,600 hours to Feeding Westchester. They helped pack food, stock shelves, run mobile food pantries, and so much more. For more information on volunteering at Feeding Westchester, go here.
Jandery DeLaCruz, manager of volunteer services with Heidi Seruya of Scarsdale and Nancy Lyons, director of volunteer services.
Swimmers to Honor John Needham
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Josh Glantz, Joel Talish and Joe Kaufman before starting the 10k swim in 2018. Saturday, July 29, 2023, marks 31 years that thousands of swimmers and volunteers will dive in to Long Island Sound off the shores of the Larchmont Yacht Club to make waves to fight cancer at the 31st annual Swim Across America - Long Island Sound (Westchester) open water swim. The Long Island open water swim is Swim Across America’s largest swim in the country with close to 1,000 participants – and this year will surpass raising $25 million for crucial cancer research for the swim’s local beneficiaries Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Columbia University Medical Center, Cancer Support Team and Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine. There are several different swim lengths available at the event and available for all ages including 2K, 5K, and 10K swims (10K is across Long Island Sound), or participants can fundraise and participate virtually via SAA My Way. Swimmers, land and water volunteers interested in participating can register here.
One of the many teams making a big splash and raising funds for cancer research is Team John, swimming in honor of beloved swimmer John Needham, who sadly lost his battle with cancer on June 1, 2023, just shy of his 70th birthday.
“John was loved by many in the broader Westchester swimming community,” said team co-captain Josh Glantz. “John participated in Swim Across America every year to raise money for cancer research. His friends from the pool now miss his laid-back nature, incredible and subtle sense of humor and supreme care for everyone in his swimming community.”
John Needham was also Josh Glantz’s Scarsdale neighbor. This year, John’s son Dan will be swimming the 10k alongside Josh, Joe Kaufman and Joel Talish, all with Team John, at the July 29 open water swim - swimming across Long Island Sound together in memory of their beloved father and friend. Joe and Joel are also Scarsdale residents.
“John will always be remembered as a beloved husband to Leanne and devoted father to his two children, Daniel and Caitlin, of whom he was always so proud and called his greatest joy, and his sister Sarah Needham,” said Joseph Kaufman, co-captain of Team John. “His teammates and swimming family at Westchester Masters Swim Association and the Scarsdale Town Pool keep his memory alive each time we dive into the water.“
Growing up, John was an All-American swimmer at Hamilton College in upstate New York. After attending Boston University Law School he found his true calling and joined the Legal Aid Society in Manhattan and, ultimately, in the Bronx, working tirelessly to defend the underprivileged and marginalized.
The Swim Across America - Long Island Sound event typically raises more than a million dollars each year. This year, its 31st year, the event is expected to break the $25 million mark for funds raised throughout the years! This incredible feat is due to the dedication of the many swimmers and volunteers. Josh Glantz is one of those who has been with the swim since its inception. Every year, his team changes its name to reflect who they are swimming for - whether it is someone courageously battling cancer, or someone dear they have recently lost, such as John Needham.
Eldad Blaustein Josh Glantz and John Needham in 2018
Team John is currently the leading team raising close to $60,000 to date - and growing. The 18 members of the team are seasoned swimmers and novices who all swim to make a difference in fighting cancer. Make your contribution to Team John here.
Swim Across America is a national nonprofit organization founded in 1987 with its first open water event in Long Island Sound in Connecticut. Since that time, the organization has raised more than $100 million to fight cancer. In its 36 years, more than 100,000 swimmers and 150 Olympians have swum the circumference of the earth three times, uniting a movement to fight cancer that has created a groundswell of support spanning all generations. Today, more than 24 communities hold open water swims and charity pool swims each year, from Nantucket to under the Golden Gate Bridge, which support innovative cancer research, detection and patient programs.
Swim Across America’s funding of clinical trials for patients helped contribute to four FDA approved life-saving immunotherapy cancer treatments: Yervoy, Opdivo, Tecentriq and Keytruda. In June of last year, a clinical trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering was published in The New England Journal of Medicine that showed a 100 percent success rate in treating patients in a phase 2 clinical trial for advanced rectal cancer with dostarlimab, an immunotherapy treatment produced by GlaxoSmithKline. The clinical trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering was funded by early-stage grant funding from Swim Across America - Long Island Sound. More than 60 scientific grants are funded each year and there are now ten dedicated Swim Across America Labs at major institutions including: Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, John Hopkins Medicine Baltimore, Rush University Medical Center Chicago, Baylor Scott & White Charles A. Sammons Cancer Center in Dallas, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center New York, Infusion Center at Nantucket Cottage Hospital, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland and San Francisco, the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance, The Swim Across America Pediatric Research Lab at Columbia University Medical Center New York, and at Meyer Cancer Center at Weill Cornell Medicine.
Assembly Member Paulin’s Legislation Making the Dissemination of Deepfake Images a Crime Passes in the New York State Legislature
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Assemblymember Amy Paulin’s (D-Scarsdale) legislation (A.3596A/S.1042A) to protect residents from the harm of “deepfake” images disseminated in online communities has passed in the New York State Legislature. Her legislation makes their nonconsensual use a criminal offense, and now awaits the signature of Governor Hochul to be signed into law.
“Deepfakes” are fake or altered images or videos created through the use of artificial intelligence. Many of these images and videos map a face onto a pornographic image or video. Some create a pornographic image or video out of a still photograph. These pornographic images and films are then posted online without the consent of those in them – often with devastating consequences to those portrayed in the images.
Following passage of the bill, Assemblymember Paulin said, “Regardless of the motivation for creating and distributing deepfakes - whether it was to humiliate, coerce, control or distress an individual – under this legislation the perpetrator will be prosecuted under the NYS Penal Code and if convicted spend up to a year in jail. Deepfakes can have a lifelong impact on someone because it’s on the web, and doesn’t come off easily. That’s why we needed to update the law to make their online dissemination a criminal offense.”
According to recent cybersecurity data, deepfakes are growing exponentially - doubling every six months. Deepfakes also disproportionally victimize women. Of those currently circulating online, research shows that over 90 percent depict non-consensual porn featuring women.
There is also significant evidence that intimate image abuse harms women more and in different ways than it harms men. Researchers have found that the mental health impacts on women are akin to those suffered by victims of sexual assault. These effects include anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, and worsening physical health and financial harm either through time off work or through withdrawing from online spaces. In some cases, there have been reports of attempted suicide and self-harm.
When women’s images are posted onto pornography sites, they are humiliated, shamed and often receive demeaning and frightening messages from men who have viewed their images. Women have also reported feeling unsafe and constantly on alert while in public or around men they don’t know and trust. The threat of violence is exacerbated when personal information about the victim is shared alongside the image.
This type of intimate image abuse has also been used as a mechanism for “shutting women up.” Some women may shut down their blogs, avoid websites they formerly frequented, take down social networking profiles, refrain from engaging in online political commentary, and choose not to maintain potentially lucrative or personally rewarding online presences.
“The sharing of and threats to share these images can be used in abusive relationships as a mechanism of coercion and control,” said Assemblymember Paulin. “Women in abusive relationships often already find it extremely challenging to leave or go to the police for a myriad of reasons. It is clear that intimate image abuse makes leaving abusive relationships and reporting the perpetrator harder still. This legislation is a first step to prevent the proliferation of deepfakes, amending the Penal Code so that they can be prosecuted as the serious offenses they are.”
