Mark Clifton was honored as the Killingworth Ambulance Association’s Top Responder of the Year at the KAA’s annual banquet held earlier this month.

A former KAA board president who was named to the Killingworth Hall of Fame this year, Clifton has been an EMT since 1983 and was involved in 106 calls from Nov. 17, 2017 to Oct. 18, 2018. Jess Accetta was recognized as the second Top Responder of the Year, while Bruce Bowman was third.

The banquet is held annually to thank the many people who help make the KAA effective throughout the year, a list that includes EMTs, EMRs, the KAA board of directors, town officials and officials from EMS organizations in surrounding towns.

All are necessary for the KAA to deliver the services so critical to residents of  Killingworth.

Also honored were the instructors who put on CPR and “Stop the Bleed” courses, instruction that is essential to position citizens with the ability and know-how to deliver immediate life-saving help while EMS assistance is on the way.

The KAA’s chief of service, Mike Haaga, made the presentations.

To learn more about times, places and dates of courses offered by the KAA, please check this website or call us at (860) 663-2450.

The Killingworth Ambulance Association’s “Stop the Bleed” program is continuing this fall, with its latest class at the Haddam-Killingworth High School on Wednesday, Oct. 23.

The course, sponsored by the KAA since last year, has been a success, with the Ambulance Association making presentations at various local locations — including schools, the KAA itself, the Killingworth Volunteer Fire Company, the Killingworth Library and St. Lawrence Church.

“The biggest reason for taking the training,” said KAA board member Don McDougal, who helps with the instruction, “is the same reason the public should take the CPR/AED and First Aid courses: Because you may save a life … maybe even a loved one.

“All you have to do is watch the 6 o’clock news to know that we live in a dangerous world. It seems almost every day there are shootings across the country or accidents with fatalities. But with an hour’s training you may be able to save a life. So why not?”

It’s a good question.

“Stop the Bleed” is a national campaign launched in 2015 by the White House and Department of Homeland Security to inform and instruct persons how to deal with emergency bleeding situations an to provide them with the tools to save lives.

Killingworth was Connecticut’s first community to have its residents certified in the “Stop the Bleed” program, with 19 persons — most of whom were KAA board members of EMTs — completing the one-hour course in July, 2017.

Local classes have been led by a Yale-New Haven Health emergency medical technician and member of the Killingworth Ambulance Association’s board of directors, as well as other KAA board members.