By Clark Judge
(July 31, 2025) — The Killingworth Ambulance Association will offer its annual EMT course again this fall, beginning on Monday, August 25, 2025 with EMTs Mike and Marguerite Haaga teaching the class … as they’ve done over the past two decades. And, as has been the case during that time, the four-month course will be taught at the KAA’s Route 81 headquarters.
It will be held on Mondays and Thursdays, from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., as well as five Saturdays from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and is expected to conclude on Saturday, December 13, 2025. The class is open to anyone turning 16 years old by December 13, 2025, though students 17 and younger must have their parents’ consent.
The cost is $1,000. However, that figure can be reimbursed. If class graduates are active members with the KAA for six months, half of the money is returned. If they remain with the KAA for an entire year, they recoup the entire sum.
“From our aspect,” said Mike Haaga, the KAA’s Chief of Service who conducts the class with his wife, Marguerite, “we need more volunteer techs. That’s why we do this. One-thousand dollars is a very reasonable cost, compared to a lot of the other classes out there. So we do this, not for monetary gain but to get more techs into Killingworth.”
Last year’s class drew six students, with two bowing out and four graduating. As of now, four persons are registered for the 2025 course, while at least three others have shown interest. Organizers strongly urge anyone who is interested to register at least a week in advance of August 25th.
This year’s course marks the Haagas’ fourth consecutive autumn class since COVID canceled the 2020 fall program and a shortage of students erased the 2021 course. The KAA, which responded to more than a thousand emergency calls the past two years (including a record 562 in 2023), currently has a roster of 24 EMTs, not all of whom are active.
“Do I feel excited?” asks KAA Vice President Marguerite Haaga. “I will be if we can get a class going. Because that means we may have more volunteers.”
Worth six college credits, the 160-hour course is highly recommended for persons interested in pursuing medical careers. For more information, please contact the Killingworth Ambulance Association at (860) 663-2450.
Photo by Clark Judge
