‘Muddy Angels’ to Pass Thru Long Island

May 16, 2012 

‘Muddy Angels’ to Pass Thru Long Island
Who Are These Bikers and Why Are They Here?

Hauppauge, NY – Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone and Commissioner of Health Services James L. Tomarken ask county residents to welcome the Muddy Angels, emergency medical service (EMS) providers and their supporters, who will be cycling next week from Boston to Alexandria, Virginia, by way of Long Island in the 2012 East Coast EMS Memorial Bike Ride. The purpose of the ride is to celebrate the lives of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice as EMS providers and those presently working in the field of emergency medical services.

Celebrating National EMS Week (May 20 – 26), cyclists will arrive at Orient Point on Sunday, May 20^th and will travel at a comfortable pace along Route 48 to Old Country Road in Riverhead, where they will spend the night. The Muddy Angels, as they call themselves, will continue along Route 25 to Westbury on Monday, May 21^th.  Local EMS providers have been asked by the Suffolk County Department of Health Services’ Division of Emergency Medical Services to assist the travelers at rest stops along the route.

County Executive Steve Bellone said, “This coming Sunday and Monday emergency medical technicians, critical care technicians, paramedics and their supporters will be pedaling through our neighborhoods. We ask our residents to cheer them on and extend a thank you to their local EMS providers for the services they provide around the clock day in and day out.”

To mark EMS Week 2012, the county will illuminate the H. Lee Dennison building in blue, the nationally recognized color of EMS from May 15^th through May 21^st. This year’s theme is “EMS: More than a Job, A Calling.”

 “We are pleased to honor the thousands of EMS providers who serve as medicine’s ‘front line’ and heroically provide life-saving care to those in need, often under daunting circumstances,” said Dr. Tomarken. “In Suffolk County, these are our everyday heroes.”

For additional information please call Grace Kelly-McGovern at 853-3009.