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07/18/2018 08:30 AMWhen Lisa Anderson first moved to Killingworth back in 2012, she found herself struggling a bit to find her place in the community. It was a new town in a new state, but she realized reviving her old career might just offer the perfect opportunity to get involved. She updated her Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) license, joined the Killingworth Ambulance Association (KAA), and has been a valued member ever since.
The KAA, incorporated in 1971, is an independent volunteer service located on Route 81. The association is run by a board of directors, of which Lisa is a member, and currently has 18 active personnel. Having only previously worked for a commercial ambulance service, Lisa said she really enjoys being a part of a volunteer crew.
Lisa started her career as an EMT out in Oakland, California, working for a commercial service and spent time working at one of the largest trauma centers in the Bay Area as a trauma room tech. She worked in those roles for years, but after having her children decided it was time to get out of the business for a bit.
“I enjoyed doing what I was doing in Oakland, but it was a job, it was your career,” she says. “Here it feels more fulfilling. You feel like you are a part of the community and you feel like you are helping your community. Even though I was new, I felt like my getting up in the middle of the night and helping someone, it really mattered to someone that I was there for them, regardless of if I had been here for a million years or five.”
Lisa dove right into the job. In 2017, she responded to the highest number of calls across the department and has taken on the role of quartermaster on the board of directors.
“The volunteer ambulance service is crucial to the town, and Lisa is a mainstay,” First Selectman Cathy Iino says.
However, especially because it is a volunteer service so most EMTs have other jobs, Lisa said everything the department does is really a team effort.
“We have such a good crew and everybody works things out amongst each other, so if you are out of town on business and you want to do this while you’re working, someone can cover,” she says. “We all just help each other out and we make a schedule and we all make time for what we want to make time for.”
The Value of a Volunteer Service
Having come from a paid service in a major city with a notoriously high crime rate like Oakland, Lisa said working as an EMT in a small town was certainly a change of pace.
“It’s a small town and that was one of the interesting things coming from a commercial service where I am running call after call after call for 24 hours to this,” she said. “We have our quiet weeks and we have our busy weeks…When someone needs help, we go.”
In the last calendar year, KAA responded to more than 300 calls and the team works hand in hand with members of the Killingworth Volunteer Fire Company’s Rescue Squad and local hospitals. Having a local ambulance service can statistically speed up response times, but Lisa said having a local volunteer service can make a difference on the type of care a patient receives.
“I do see a higher level of compassion out of our crews because these are our neighbors,” she said. “We see them daily, we see them at baseball games with their kids, we see them with their grandchildren, so I think it’s that neighborly compassion that really takes the height of everything, versus it just being a business.”
Residents clearly see the value in that, too.
“Just bumping into people around town that I have met through calls when they have needed us, I have gotten lots of hugs and handshakes and thank yous and it does mean a lot,” she said. “It definitely makes you feel good about what you get up and do every day.”
Becoming an EMT
Like most any organization dependent on volunteers, the more people the better. Lisa said KAA is always looking for more EMTs and other volunteers to help out in the department. As a matter of convenience, Lisa said a training course is offered in town every fall.
“It’s a three-month class and you take a registry test at the end and then you are able to run calls,” she said. “You learn basic life-saving skills, you learn how to deal with traumas, you learn how to deal with cardiac issues, you learn how to deal with respiratory issues, and I am not saying you are going to become a nurse, but you will learn a lot.”
While being an EMT can certainly have its intense moments, Lisa said volunteering for KAA is not as much of a logistical challenge as some might think. She said she has been a volunteer both as a stay-at-home mom and as a professional on a typical 9 to 5 schedule.
“If you are here in town and you are free and running around, you only have a pager—you’re not stuck in a building the whole day,” she said. “You’re not waiting at the station for a call. You can be at home doing laundry, things that you would typically do. It was a great outlet for me when I was a stay-at-home mom.”
As an EMT, Lisa said there can be a lot of focus on the people you help when you answer a call, but she said she knows this line of work has personally benefited her as well.
“As I am getting older myself, it’s a good way to have more compassion for the people around you and understanding what they are going through, because I really see firsthand what the challenges are when I am picking patients up who have the same kind of diagnosis,” she said. “It has helped me as a person.”
To learn more about the Killingworth Ambulance Association, visit www.killingworthambulance.org.