By Clark Judge
(November 1, 2023) — If this sounds familiar, it should.
When the Killingworth Ambulance Association held its annual dinner at Deer Lake on October 29, 2023, it announced that it responded to a record 581 emergency calls from October, 2022 through last month. That figure broke the previous mark of 538 set in 2021-22 … which, in turn, broke the mark of 459 set in 2020-21.
OK, so that can happen.
But then, when it honored EMTs who responded to the most calls, it asked KAA president Dan O’Sullivan to step forward. He answered 240, or 41 percent of the 581. Nothing new there, either. O’Sullivan was last year’s winner with a record 283 … and he was the first-place honoree in 2020-21, too.
Starting to get the picture?
Now look who was honored with him. It was EMTs James Fretz, wife Mary Robbenhaar-Fretz and Lisa Barbour. Along with O’Sullivan, they comprised the first four responders at this time last year. Fretz was second, answering 220 calls, while wife Mary and Barbour tied for third with133 each. Furthermore, Fretz was the runner-up to O’Sullivan in 2020-21. (Above photo, left to right: Dan O’Sullivan, Mary Robenhaar-Fretz, James Fretz and Lisa Barbour)
Welcome to “Groundhog Day.”
“They’re very dedicated people, especially Dan,” said Mike Haaga, the KAA’s Chief of Service. “He takes it personally when we pass a call (go to mutual aid). They’re very dedicated and very available.”
If there’s something new, it’s the volume of emergency calls – up eight percent from last year and 88 percent over the past four. Plus, this is the first time that two EMTs eclipsed 200, a figure reached for the first time in 2019-20 when EMT Lisa Anderson set what was then a record with 207 responses.
That lasted until O’Sullivan broke it last year.
“I’m very proud of the organization,” O’Sullivan said, “and that our response rate is higher than ever. Despite the increase, there’s a lot of dedication and sacrifice from everybody … and their families … used to sitting down with dinner or starting to grill when the (emergency) tone goes off, and they’re gone.”
Nobody was gone more than O’Sullivan, so active in volunteer organizations that he and his wife, Jan O’Sullivan, were honored as Killingworth’s Citizens of the Year for 2022-2023. In addition to serving as president of the KAA, Dan O’Sullivan volunteers with the Lions Club, Parmelee Farm and St. Lawrence Church. Plus, he recently completed his annual fall bike ride – a 337-mile trip cut short this month by inclement weather – on behalf of the Diocese of Norwich Ride for Haiti.
“I’m retired and involved in a lot of things” he said, “but my schedule is flexible enough that if I have to leave to go on a call, I can. I realize the core four are the same this year as last, but others are trying to fill the gaps.”
He mentioned Ed Funaro and Lara Hajek as two whose responses increased last year. Then there’s Dan Siegel, who served on evenings and weekends, as well as Tim Withington and newcomers Tom Smith and Chris Riggio. They’re among the eighteen active EMTs who served in a year when the KAA joined eighty-nine mutual-aid calls to nearby towns experiencing staff issues.
“I’ve got a lot of people taking a lot of calls,” said Haaga.
In addition to the EMTs who were honored, the evening included a tribute to former board member Mark Clifton, who passed away unexpectedly in mid-February. O’Sullivan began the evening with a moment of silence in Clifton’s memory, while Graig Judge – Rescue Captain of the Killingworth Volunteer Fire Company and a guest at the dinner — made an emotional speech about the former KAA president.
Judge was among the first to respond to an emergency call on February 16, 2023 at Clifton’s home.
“On that day,” he told his audience, “we moved from colleagues to brothers and sisters.”
A banner that the KAA prepared in Clifton’s memory earlier this year was given to his wife, Patty, who attended the dinner, along with son, Forrest, and daughter-in-law Katie, a member of the KAA’s board of directors. The banner will continue to reside at Deer Lake.
(Photo by Clark Judge.
