When Jenn and Brian Carroll took over as co-directors of Deer Lake last summer, someone suggested they look into becoming EMTs. That someone was outgoing director Patty Clifton, who, along with husband Mark, had overseen Deer Lake the previous four decades and who, like Mark, had been an EMT with the Killingworth Ambulance Association.

“It wasn’t part of the job description,” Patty said. “It was just a personal requirement of Mark and me.”

That was less than a year ago.

So what happened? If you were at Killingworth’s annual Memorial Day parade Monday, you know. The Carrolls not only were part of a KAA contingent of EMTs dressed in white blouses and blue trousers, but Brian helped carry their banner while Jenn joined others walking behind. Had you’d known what they’d been through since arriving in Killingworth last year, that scene would’ve been unimaginable. But if you were Patty Clifton, you’d understand.

Becoming EMTs was a personal requirement of Jenn and Brian Carroll, too.

“Volunteering as an EMT is something I sought out since at least 2001,” Brian said. “It’s been a long-term goal of mine, but the training requirements just didn’t align with my previous employment. So when we had an opportunity to do it here, we jumped at it.”

Following Clifton’s advice, they signed up for a fall EMT course at the KAA last year. They attended nearly 180 hours of classes between August and December, passed practical exams and joined in “ride-alongs” on ambulance runs out of Bridgeport and Killingworth before graduating this spring as certified EMTs. That’s a normal continuum for aspiring techs, except for one catch: There is nothing normal about the path that Jenn and Brian took.

They’d been recruited by Mark and Patty Clifton to succeed them as caretakers of Deer Lake in September, 2023, or several months after Brian retired from 26 years with the U.S. Coast Guard. But that itinerary was accelerated after Mark Clifton unexpectedly passed away in February of that year, leaving his wife alone to handle what was designed to be a gradual transition … but wasn’t.

Especially for the Carrolls.

Brian had grown up in Clinton and worked at Deer Lake as a Day Camp counselor. But this was a new locale for a family that spent the last four years in Puerto Rico and included two sons — one (Owen) who was entering his senior year of high school and the other (Mathias) an incoming freshman. On top of that, there was no home waiting for them … at least, no permanent home.

The 1930s’ colonial where the Cliftons resided … and where Jenn and Brian intended to live … was in such dire need of repairs that they couldn’t spend a night there until this week. Instead, they moved into a vacant house donated by a board member of Pathfinders, Inc., the non-profit that bought Deer Lake, with most of their belongings stored in the basement.

“I’ve still been living out of the bags I flew with from Puerto Rico,” said Jenn. :”We haven’t unpacked yet.”

Can’t Do It All at Once? They’re Trying

As co-directors of Deer Lake, the Carrolls assumed an enormous task that included a complete overhaul of … well, everything. They developed business processes to operate Deer Lake without the Boys Scouts. They renovated a 100-year-old house. And the office within the house. Bathrooms. Bedrooms. Roof. Surrounding buildings. Equipment. Schedules. Website. Contacts. Contracts. You name it. All had to be updated or reconditioned in collaboration with Pathfinders.

“They say you can’t do it all at once,” Jenn said, “but I guess we’re trying.”

If you didn’t find Brian or Jenn in their newly renovated Deer Lake office this spring, one or both would be somewhere nearby … painting … mowing … planting  …repairing tractors … working with volunteers to update the camp’s waterfront. On top of that, they’d then sit through EMT classes that ran four hours on weekday nights and eight hours on Saturdays … while Brian and son Owen spent another 10 hours getting certified as lifeguard instructors … and Jenn completed 40 additional hours of training in New Hampshire to be certified as a Wilderness EMT.

I think you get the idea. They’re busy.

“We’re working seven days a week,” Brian said. “And most days we’re pushing 12 hours on average.”

Asked the last time they had a day off, the two looked at each other before Jenn answered.

“Easter,” she said. “We had the morning off. Every night around 9 p.m., our kids ask, ‘Is there a plan for dinner?’ “

With that, the two laughed. And that’s what makes this picture so unusual. What seems so complicated actually isn’t. In the end, everything somehow works out. The Carrolls are living a new and demanding life, yet it’s precisely what they want.

“Something We Wanted to Do”

“Helping someone as an EMT, watching the excitement of visitors who see Deer Lake for the first or 100^th time and living in this amazing place makes it all worthwhile,” Jenn said.

So, while she and Brian agree that they could’ve postponed EMT classes another year, they didn’t. Instead, they had a plan that followed Patty Clifton’s advice … and completed it.

“Every time we got in the car to go to class” Brian said, “we’d look at each other and say, ‘What are we doing?’ “

But they knew. So they kept on driving.

“It was a struggle,” Jenn conceded, “but it was something we did and wanted to do. When we were getting ready to retire, one of the things I looked forward to the most was living somewhere we could be part of the community, and this was a great step toward that.

“The timing wasn’t ideal, but it was sort of a now-or-never thing. Working here and having it (the class) close, we thought we should take it. So we just said, ‘Let’s get it done.’ “

And they did. Now they’re the third married couple to serve as KAA techs (Mike and Marguerite Haaga and James Fretz and Mary Robbenhaar-Fretz are the others). Unlike James and Mary, however, the two don’t work together. If one is on an emergency call, the other is at Deer Lake. Nevertheless, they each have the trust of their KAA colleagues, who extolled their patience, flexibility, compatibility and knowledge of procedural skills.

“They’re confident and competent,” said KAA president Dan O’Sullivan.

They’re also extraordinary. They were asked to oversee Deer Lake, and they did it. They were asked to live out of suitcases for nearly a year, and they did it. They were asked to work 12-hour days while raising two high-school sons, and they did it. And they were urged to become EMTs.

They did that, too.

“They’re really strong, resilient individuals,” said Patty Clifton. “You don’t find people like that anymore.”

Yes, you do. They were there Monday, walking with the Killingworth Ambulance Association at Killingworth’s Memorial Day parade.

Shortly after the Killingworth Ambulance Association was notified Wednesday by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) that it can receive the initial round of COVID-19 vaccines, one of its EMTs was immunized.

KAA president Dan O’Sullivan became the first Ambulance Association member to be vaccinated when he was treated late Wednesday afternoon at Middlesex Hospital in Middletown. O’Sullivan said he contacted the hospital shortly after registering with the CDC at 4:45 p.m. and was examined within an hour after booking its only remaining appointment.

It was for 5:15 to 5:30 p.m.

With Middletown a 20-minute drive away, immediate action was required. So O’Sullivan jumped in his car and rushed to the hospital, where he filled out a registration, waited approximately 10 minutes to be seen and was inoculated.

“It was completely painless,” he said. “I didn’t even feel it when it went in.”

Nor did he experience an adverse reaction. Nevertheless, he was warned that he might experience soreness in the area in his left arm where he was vaccinated and told not to be alarmed. As of Wednesday evening, he said he experienced no such symptoms.

“I feel fine,” he said. “I haven’t felt anything that I could say was a reaction to it.”

                            Dan O’Sullivan

O’Sullivan is the first of a wave of Ambulance Association EMTs scheduled to receive immunizations over the next two weeks, with eight already scheduled – including three for Saturday, Jan. 2.

The KAA lists 29 active EMTs and EMRs, some of whom are involved with the Killingworth Volunteer Fire Company. Like the KAA, the Fire Company this week received clearance to receive the first round of vaccinations. According to Fire Chief Richard Bauer, one of its first responders also gained an appointment to receive a vaccination.

“This is great news to know that the vaccine has reached the local levels,” Bauer said on the KVFC’s Facebook page.

Both Bauer and O’Sullivan congratulated local residents for their patience but cautioned that one round of vaccinations is just the beginning. First responders have been told to obtain a second round of immunizations in no fewer than three weeks but soon thereafter.

In the meantime, the KAA will continue to proceed cautiously. All crews responding to calls, for instance, wear protective face masks and gloves as part of their Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Furthermore, EMTs who treat patients with COVID symptoms — or who are within a residence that had a confirmed COVID case — are required to wear gowns, face shields, gloves and N95 masks instead of surgical face masks.

In addition, Valley Shore dispatch screens all incoming 911 calls to determine if there are symptoms related to COVID-19. If that screen is deemed positive, the KAA forbids EMTs-in-training from boarding the ambulance and requires on-scene first responders to conduct their own screen before approaching patients.

Radios are used to communicate with persons inside a home to those on the outside.

“This is going to be what continues to happen in terms of procedure,” said O’Sullivan. “Even when we’re all vaccinated, we’re not going to change the protocol. We’re all going to have to take precautionary measures to make sure we’re not spreaders of the virus.

“They (the CDC) think vaccinated people won’t spread the virus, but they don’t yet have proof. So we’re going to have to keep doing what we’re doing until the CDC says the vaccination does protect against a spread or the vaccination program is finished.”

According to the latest e-mail from First Selectwoman Cathy Iino, Killingworth has 121 cases of COVID-19 that are confirmed and 127 deemed probable.

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.