Pictured above in 2021: Dan Perkins (c), flanked by Don McDougall (l) and Charlie Smith (r).

When the Killingworth Ambulance Association celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2021, it called on some of its original members to attend a ceremony that October at Deer Lake. Charlie Smith, the KAA’s first president, was there. So was Don McDougall, who retired from the KAA last year after more than 50 years of service. And so was Dan Perkins.

Sadly, Perkins passed away last week at the age of 82.

Perkins was a lifelong resident of Killingworth who grew up on the family farm, helped with chores around the property (including milking cows, haying fields and caring for animals) and pitched in to help his Dad, known as Leslie, at a gas station on Route 80 next to the Sheridan farm.

He graduated from Morgan High School in Clinton and was actively involved in Killingworth volunteering for over 60 years as a founding member of the KAA, the Killingworth Volunteer Fire Company, the town’s Historical Society, Killingworth Lions Club and Killingworth Library. He also worked at the popular Cowboy Valley, which opened in 1957, and participated in Killingworth’s 350^th anniversary celebration.

But it was as a volunteer in on the ground floor of the KAA that we remember him. Perkins was one of a handful of Killingworth residents who, in 1971, joined Walter Albrecht to push for a volunteer ambulance association. After one was approved at an informal town meeting, a group of approximately 25 volunteers — mostly married couples – formed the KAA, with its members on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

“There were lulls in staffing,” said Smith in a 2021 video where he, McDougall and Perkins shared memories of the KAA’s start, “and there were lulls in funding at certain points. But we recovered. And look where we are now, baby.”

Yes, look. Today the ambulance association is housed in a two-story, two-garage building on Route 81, complete with EMTs on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. There are approximately 20 active techs now, each of whom is required to pass a rigorous exam that involves 180 hours of training. Plus, where there were once fewer than 100 emergency calls a year for a used 1964 Cadillac that served as the KAA’s first ambulance, there were a record 562 last year.

“Times were different then,” Perkins said in 2021. “We started with nothing, and it turned out pretty well.”

It did. Fortunately, Perkins was there to help with its growth, and the KAA — as well as Killingworth and its citizens — are grateful.

“Dan Perkins and his wife,” said Smith, “were the heart and soul of the early first-aid efforts that we made here in Killingworth. Dan especially had a real keen sense of good health care … good first-aid health care … and he accompanied us down to Westbrook when we went to the first-aid course sponsored by the Westbrook Ambulance Association just for us. We’ll surely miss him.

A service for Perkins will be held at the Swan Funeral Home in Clinton on Saturday, Feb. 3. Calling hours are from 10 a.m.-noon, followed immediately by a short service at Swan. In lieu of flowers, the family has asked that donation be sent to the Killingworth Ambulance Association, 335 Route 81, Killingworth, CT. 06419.

 

 

New Year. Same story.

For the fifth consecutive year, the Killingworth Ambulance Association in 2023 responded to a record number of emergency calls. This time the figure was 562, up slightly from 550 a year ago and 496 in 2021 … but a significant hike from 2020 when the KAA answered 370 calls.

That’s a 51.9 percent hike in just three years, and let’s be honest: What happened in 2020 … or didn’t … was due in large part to the COVID outbreak early that year. State and local shutdowns compelled people to travel less frequently until vaccines were available in the spring and summer.

But while the number of calls changed appreciably since then, the specifics have not. As usual, victims of falls last year led the list of responses, as they have almost every year, while sick individuals finished second. That, too, is consistent with ambulance history, as the past two years document.

Here are the top five ambulance calls for 2023, with the percentage of total calls in parentheses:

1. FALLS …. 122 (21.7 percent).
2. SICK PERSONS … 99 (17.6 percent).
3. BREATHING PROBLEMS … 54 (9.6 percent).
4. PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS/ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR … 44 (7.8 percent).
5. TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS … 41 (7.3 percent).

Now look at the calls for the previous year (2022). The numbers and percentages aren’t much different:

1. FALLS … 119 (21.6 percent)
2. SICK PERSONS … 104 (18.6 percent).
3. TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS … 51 (9.1 percent).
4. BREATHING PROBLEMS … 41 (7.3 percent).
5. PSYCHIATRIC PROBLEMS/ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR … 40 (7.1 percent).

If there’s a takeaway from the latest figures, it’s that responses – both in number and in cases — changed little from one year to the next. That’s one. But another is that the Killingworth Ambulance Association and its techs – all of whom are volunteers — continue to handle an increasing demand for their services.

“I’m relieved that the rate of increase has leveled off quite a bit,” said KAA president Dan O’Sullivan, “but I’m still hoping we’ll go back to prior levels , though I don’t think we’ll get all the way there. The thing that most pleases me about this, however, is that we continue to have very good coverage on our calls. A lot of techs stepped up to make sure we’re covering as many calls as possible.”

O’Sullivan should know. He covered the most the past three years, setting a KAA record with 283 from October through 2021-September, 2022.  But he’s not alone. Mary Robbenhaar-Fretz, husband James Fretz and Lisa Barbour joined O’Sullivan as the most active responders the past three years, with James Fretz only 20 responses shy of O’Sullivan a year ago (240-2020).

While the 562 calls works out to a daily average of one-and-a-half calls per day, that figure is a little misleading. Sometimes, the ambulance isn’t summoned at all. Then, it is. Frequently. In fact, on August 29 of last year, Mary and James Fretz were involved in five emergency responses between 6:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

“And only one,” said Mary, “was mutual aid to Clinton. That was the last one. So it does seem to be ‘feast or famine.’ Sometimes, we’ll have zero. Then, we’ll have three.”

O’Sullivan has noticed, especially with calls down recently. According to records kept by the KAA, monthly responses dropped in December and have continued to stay there in January.

“Maybe things have peaked,” he said, adding that occasional monthly dips aren’t rare. “What happens is that there will be a couple of days where we have no calls and then a couple in a row where we have five or six. Those days where we have 50 or 70 calls a month are really tough. We’re continually stretching the staff to cover them, so we’re always looking for more techs.

“But, that said, I can’t express how appreciative we are to the people of this community. They regularly apologize for calling us, but we’ll tell them, ‘No, that’s why we’re here.’ We don’t want anybody worrying about calling at any hour of the day.”

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