When someone at last month’s Killingworth Ambulance Association board meeting asked if the ambulance could be parked Saturday morning at the Congregational Church, site of the town’s annual road race, there wasn’t an immediate answer. The ambulance could be made available, board members agreed, but there was uncertainty about staffing.
At least two EMTs are required to be with the ambulance, and only one was free that morning. Some indicated they might be out of town or unavailable, which isn’t unusual … not this time of year it’s not … and then there was KAA vice president Marguerite Haaga.
She indicated she will be both … unavailable AND out of town.
That’s because she will work the 32nd annual Swim Across the Sound on Saturday for, by her count, a 25th time. The swim is scheduled to start at 8:30 a.m. from Port Jefferson, N.Y., and end in late afternoon at Captain’s Cove in Bridgeport, a distance of 15.5 miles across Long Island Sound. A field of 168 swimmers is expected, with 11 solos and 28 teams.
(Mike and Marguerite Haaga)
“Are you swimming?” Haaga was asked.
She cocked her head in disbelief. Then she burst out laughing.
“Are you kidding?” she said. “Uh, no. I’ll be working it.”
If she weren’t, she might be covering the KAA at the road race. But it has the event staffed, with Dan O’Sullivan and Mary Robbenhaar-Fretz — two of the association’s most frequent responders — expected to be there. In the meantime, Haaga will start her day early by tooling down Interstate 95 to Bridgeport, then catching a 6:15 a.m. ferry to Port Jefferson for a one-hour voyage across the sound.
Then it’s on to one of four medical boats that are part of a flotilla that includes 86 civilian crafts, 13 law enforcement boats and the U.S. Coast Guard. Serving as one of four medics, Haaga is joined on her boat by an EMT in the event of a medical emergency. However, as the medic, Haaga is the only one permitted to administer medication and read EKGs.
She and others are told they’d should expect to be on the water at least eight hours.
“Very rarely do we have an emergency,” Haaga said. “Usually, it’s because of dehydration. But in all my years, I can say we’ve never picked up anyone with an emergency. So, we’re usually not busy.”
Wait. It’s Long Island Sound. What about … uh, you know … sharks?
“We really don’t have them,” she said. “However, last year they were checking on one great white shark (via radar). They had a radio and kept keeping tabs on her. But she was far away. That was the closest one I can remember. It was only because they kept tabs on her that I knew that she was around.”
Saturday’s swim is part of the Swim Across America, which funds cancer research, clinical trials and patient programs through charity events. The event, which is hosted by Hartford Health Care and the St. Vincent’s Medical Center Department of Philanthropy, last year attracted 192 swimmers who helped raise more than $460,000 to support cancer victims and their families.
At last report, $325,000 has been raised this year.
“It’s all for a good cause,” Haaga said, “and I enjoy it.”