Every December the Killingworth Ambulance Association holds its annual Christmas party at the home of a board member, and this year was supposed to be no different.
And it wasn’t. Only, it was, too.
Yes, a board member hosted it. And, yes, EMTs and others on the board were there, as they have been for years. But it was more than a Christmas party. It was also a retirement party for former board member Pat Miller.
Miller announced that she is quitting as an EMT after serving Killingworth the past 15 years – many of which were spent on call Tuesday evenings, with Miller sleeping on an air mattress at the association’s Route 81 headquarters.
“There are a lot of factors,” she said, “that came together that make this the right time.”
One is that she must renew her certification at the end ofthe calendar year. Another is that, since moving to Madison several years ago, it’s become increasingly difficult for her to spend weekday evenings at the KAA building. And, third, she’s more focused on life after retirement from her job as a pharmacist – something she envisions happening within the next two years.
“I feel I’ve done my time,” said Miller. “I’m getting older,and it’s time for newer blood to come along and step up to the plate … Patients are getting larger and larger, and my back is getting older and older. I don’t want to start my retirement with a major back injury.”
But that doesn’t mean that Miller is leaving the KAA or Killingworth. She is not. She intends to continue teaching CPR courses and monitoring ambulance inventory for the association. She simply is retiring as an EMT – unfortunately, at a time when the KAA is in need of volunteers.
“What am I going to miss?” she said. “Certainly the people. People ask if you like what you do as an EMT, and I don’t like seeing people in pain and suffering. But it gives you great satisfaction to know that you might be able to help them on their worst day and make it a little easier on them and their families.
“I’ll miss that because Killingworth is such a big-hearted community. It makes it easy to want to give.”
And Miller has given a considerable amount of her adult life to Killingworth. A member of the KAA’s board of directors for over two decades, she was a past president, vice president and secretary. After moving to Madison, she resigned from the board but continued as an EMT – an experience she said she won’t forget.
Apparently, neither will others.
“When my retirement was announced,” Miller said, “one of the soon-to-be EMTs, someone who’s taking the (current EMT) course, Mary Robbenhaar-Fretz (a board member) came up to me and said, ‘Wow, Pat, you’ve been doing Tuesday nights here for a long time.’ And I said, ‘Yeah, I have. But what made you remember that?’ And she said, ‘Because you transported my father on a Tuesday night. And he passed away three-to-four days later. You were such a comfort to us then.’ ”
Miller’s last day as an EMT is Monday, Dec. 31. And while she’s not sure how she will recognize the event she is certain that with a New Year she begins a new life.
“Being an EMT certainly is a meaningful way to give back to your community,” she said, “which I think everyone has an obligation to do in one form or another. Certainly, it has its downsides. Nobody wants to be called out of bed at 2 in the morning. But you do it because you know one of your peers – one of your colleagues, perhaps – needs help.
“Am I glad I did it? I don’t have to think a second about that. It’s an unqualified yes. I have no regrets at all. And I do feel I’ve helped a lot of people over the years, which gives you a great deal of satisfaction. It’s been a wonderful experience.”
