Ambulance Association reaching out

WINSTED — Winsted has always been a town with a strong sense of volunteerism. And nowhere, perhaps, is that sense of community put to a more positive use than the Winsted Area Ambulance Association (WAAA), which is reaching out to students, the general public and health-care providers to teach life-saving skills.

On Friday, June 11, many of the association’s auxiliary members will join the association’s EMTs at Pearson Middle School, teaching the school’s eighth-graders basic resuscitation skills, followed by a number of classes open to the public this summer.

In August, the squad will sponsor two one-day community CPR classes: a Heartsaver First Aid course on Aug. 8 and a Heartsaver automated external defibrillator (AED) course on Aug. 22. Each class is $20.

A third Friends & Family first aid class will be held later this year in November, free of charge.

WAAA President Jim Hutchinson said the classes and instructional work with the general public are integral components of the ambulance association’s role within the community.

“It’s another way to learn a skill and maybe save a life,†he said. “Our mission is to save lives and prevent accidents. So, we want to see as many trained people out there as possible.â€

Basic community CPR classes are open to the general public, while more advanced training sessions are offered for health-care providers.

The WAAA has been responding to medical emergencies in town — everything from a bloody nose to a cardiac arrest — since the group was first founded as an all-volunteer organization by a handful of residents in 1968. Since then, the private, nonprofit organization has grown to 50 active volunteers who together respond to an average of 1,500 calls each year.

“They really are doing something that is very special,†said Hutchinson. “It’s a unique squad.â€

A steady increase in call volume, which spiked significantly after the Winsted Memorial Hospital closed in 1996, led the association to hire full-time employees in the late 1990s to ensure that someone is always on call during the work week’s daytime hours.

The group now has four full-time employees who are paid to respond to calls during daytime hours. Volunteer members also respond to daytime calls.

During the evenings and all weekend, the association’s headquarters along Main Street is manned only by unpaid volunteers, who run 12-hour shifts from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. on weeknights, and then the additional 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

Some volunteers on call will sleep overnight at the headquarters, which has two bedrooms with four beds to allow the EMTs to get some sleep between calls on slower nights. Or if they live close enough to headquarters, the volunteers will respond from home, keeping their radios or pagers on overnight.

Hutchinson said there is no set pattern for the number of calls on any given night: There could be several or there could be none during the 12-hour shift.

“Sometimes it’s busy and sometimes it’s not,†he said. “A call can happen at any time.â€

For those interested in becoming a volunteer EMT with the association, training usually starts with becoming a medical response technician (MRT) and driving the ambulance during calls.

“Many of us in this squad started as an MRT,†Hutchinson said.

The next level is basic EMT, and then advanced EMT.

“Each level has more training and more responsibility,†Hutchinson said, adding that all ages and experience levels are welcome to start along the path to becoming a volunteer.

Each four-person team that responds to a call has within it different levels of medical technicians. This allows those with a higher level of training to assist and teach those who are working to increase their knowledge and experience base.

“We’re always mentoring someone,†Hutchinson said of the more seasoned members of the association.

The organization also has an active Explorers division, which provides an opportunity for local youths aged 14 to 21 to become trained EMTs and respond to calls. The training also provides a path for the students to one day become career paramedics.

“Many of them remain with the Explorers program and mentor the newer recruits,†Hutchinson said.

In addition to riding in the ambulance and responding to calls, there are other ways to volunteer with the association. The organization has an active auxiliary branch, much of which is made up of family and friends of the EMTs.

Hutchinson said many auxiliary members become certified CPR instructors and assist in the association’s training classes.

“We are a very full package,†he said.

For more information or to volunteer, call 860-379-6596 or visit winsted-ambulance.org.