On-Site Paramedic Hastens Local Emergency Response

By John Voket

Minutes after town and Newtown Ambulance representatives gathered to officially launch the town’s new exclusive on-site paramedic service, responders illustrated its vital importance. A “possible code” call came in to dispatchers at the corner of South Main Street and Glover Avenue.

A police officer discovered an unresponsive driver in his vehicle, and instead of the highly skilled paramedic responding from Danbury, Redding, or Bethel, the emergency medical specialist was on scene with the ambulance volunteers in less than three minutes. The ready availability of the paramedic could have spelled the difference between life and death to the victim, who may have suffered a stroke or other critical medical issue.

According to Tricia Johnson, president of the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Association, the new exclusive medical response service went into effect just about two weeks ago.

“On October 1, Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Association and the Town of Newtown launched the Newtown Paramedic Program,” she told The Bee this week. “The program is providing a dedicated paramedic to the Town of Newtown for advanced life support [ALS] calls.”

Ms Johnson said that prior to October 1, Newtown participated in a regional paramedic intercept program for ALS calls. Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Association and the Town of Newtown recently contracted with Danbury Ambulance Service, Inc to provide an on-site paramedic 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Financial underwriting of the new program is provided by a partnership in which the Town of Newtown budgets approximately two-thirds of the cost, and the Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Association funds the balance, Ms Johnson explained.

The cost for the first year contract, which runs October 1 to June 30, 2007 is $218,728, according to First Selectman Herb Rosenthal. At that point, the next full year of the three-year contract of service is $301,844.

Ms Johnson described the program as being absolutely necessary considering the demand, and appropriate based on the ambulance organization’s evaluation of town needs.

“As the Town of Newtown has continued to grow and the number of 911 Newtown ambulance calls has continued to climb,” she said. “Newtown Ambulance predicts that in 2006 they will respond to as many as 2,000 calls or more.”

Considering Newtown’s growth, the organization identified several reasons to implement the in-house Newtown Paramedic program. Ms Johnson said its benefits will include significantly quicker ALS response.

“The paramedic will mobilize from the Newtown Ambulance garage versus a location in Danbury [or elsewhere in the former tri-town region.] This is a dedicated paramedic resource versus a regional program where the paramedic is shared between different towns,” she said.

“The Newtown Volunteer Ambulance and the Town of Newtown are very excited to kick off this enhanced paramedic service for the citizens of Newtown,” Ms Johnson added.