(Pictured L-R: James Fretz, Lisa Barbour and Dan O’Sullivan)

For the first time in six years, the Killingworth Ambulance Association has broken with history. It answered fewer calls from October, 2023 through September, 2024 than each of the previous two years. No one is sure why, but records at the KAA’s annual dinner Sunday evening revealed a reversal in annual responses that had been climbing since 2018.

However, there’s a catch: Nothing changed with those answering the calls. There, history remained intact.

For the fourth consecutive year, it was Groundhog Day for KAA president Dan O’Sullivan, honored again as the leading responder. This time he accumulated 238, two shy of his 240 the previous year and 46 percent of the 518 the volunteer service answered in 2023-24. He also set the KAA record for individual responses with 283 in 2021-22.

“I’m retired and have a lot of other stuff going on,” explained O’Sullivan, who with wife Jan, was recognized as Killingworth’s Co-Citizens of the Year in 2023, “but I make this a high priority with the things I do.”

Apparently. Honoring him annually has become so routine that, when asked to characterize O’Sullivan’s run of first-place finishes, the KAA’s chief of service, Mike Haaga, was speechless. He shook his head and threw up his hands before giving up.

“What can I say?” he finally answered. “Thank you.”

But thanks on Sunday extended beyond O’Sullivan.

James Fretz was cited for finishing second in responses with 191, and nothing new there, either. It’s the fourth consecutive year he’s been the runner-up to O’Sullivan. Lisa Barbour, who last year tied for third, was third again, this time answering 143 calls, while Mary Robbenhaar-Fretz was fourth.

“Lisa Barbour’s accomplishment is particularly amazing,” O’Sullivan said, “given that she does it while working full-time (for the town of Clinton).”

If those names sound familiar, they should. All four have been the top KAA responders each of the past three years and are members of the KAA’s board of directors.

What’s not familiar is the decline in KAA calls. Until the past fiscal year, they accelerated annually from 2018 when the figure was 277 to last year when it was a record 581, a leap of 109 percent. But over the past 12 months, the number dropped to 518, its lowest since 2021 when it was 459.

The reason? No one’s certain.

“They went up after COVID, and they stayed high for a while,” said Haaga, “but they’re moving back to where I think they should be. With COVID and after COVID, people were very concerned, for instance, about sneezing. They didn’t know what that meant. But now it’s starting to slow back down, so that when they now sneeze, they say, ‘OK, I have a cold.’ “

Haaga should know. He and wife Marguerite have been EMTs in Killingworth since 1997 and taught annual EMT and CPR classes here since 2000. In recognition of their service, they were honored Sunday night with a proclamation from the Killingworth’s board of selectmen, with First Selectman Eric Couture making the presentation.

Introducing the Haagas, O’Sullivan said he “couldn’t imagine” where the KAA would be without them. Not only are both board members; they trained 18 of the 20 current EMTs, as well as dozens of others who have since retired from active duty.

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 32^nd annual Swim Across the Sound on Saturday for, by her count, a 25^th 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.

“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.”