Services Provided

This page is designed to help you understand the services we provide to our community, as well as how the EMS and dispatch system functions in Harwinton.

Levels of Care
Emergency Medical Dispatch System
What happens when you call 911?

Levels of Care

In Connecticut there are three types of EMS services that an ambulance can provide.  Harwinton Ambulance falls into the second or ALS-Intermediate category:

Basic Life Support (BLS) – This is the minimum level of care that an ambulance service can provide per the State of Connecticut.  Ambulances operating at this level carry the equipment and personnel to stabilize a patient and transport them to the appropriate medical facility.

Advanced Life Support (ALS) Intermediate – This service provides BLS care and is trained to start intravenous lines (IVs) and have the capability of using advanced airway management techniques on patients.  These additional procedures allow for greater impact on patient care.

Advanced Life Support (ALS) Paramedic – This is the highest level of field based emergency medical care provided in the State of Connecticut.  Paramedics can perform all of the skills in the BLS and ALS Intermediate level and can administer life-saving drugs and initiate other more complicated procedures.  This level of response requires in-depth education and specialized equipment, and  is as close to bringing the “ER to you” as possible.

Emergency Medical Dispatch System (EMD)

Our dispatch center (LCD) utilizes an advanced system (EMD) to classify the calls for assistance we receive through the 911 system and place them in one of six response categories.  This is determined by a series of questions asked by the dispatcher.  The dispatcher is trained to assist you over the phone by giving life-saving instructions    Any response requiring a Paramedic triggers a request to Campion Ambulance in Torrington for a Paramedic response.  The six response categories are:

Alpha  - BLS response without lights and sirens.  Responses for back pain, knee-pain and other non-emergency responses requiring transportation to the hospital via an ambulance fall into this category.

Bravo – BLS response with lights and sirens.  Considered a true emergency, this would include injuries from a minor/moderate car accident, a broken extremity such as an arm or a medical alarm.

Charlie –  Two unit response.  The ambulance responds lights and sirens and the paramedic on a non-emergency response.  Incidents such as abdominal pains and chest pains with no cardiac history fall into this category.  This ensures a paramedic is enroute if the ambulance crew determines it is needed.

Delta – Two unit response.  The ambulance and paramedic both respond with lights and sirens.  This is considerate a true emergency for both units.  Calls for difficulty breathing, heart attacks and serious vehicular accidents fall into this category.

Echo –  Two unit response.  The ambulance and paramedic both respond with lights and sirens.  This is considerate a true emergency for both units.  Calls for cardiac arrest and/or respiratory arrest fall into this category.

Omega – This is considered a public assist with an ambulance responding only and without lights and sirens.  Calls for a lift assist fall into this category.

What happens when you call 911?

When you dial 911 from Harwinton your call is routed through to Litchfield County Dispatch (LCD).  The following steps take place.

1. An emergency operator will take your call and determine what resources are required.  You may be placed on hold for a few moments while they dispatch the ambulance.  At this point LCD dispatches the ambulance by using a tone sent over the airways to activate our member's pagers.  LCD then relays the specific information to our personnel about the nature and location of the emergency.  

2. The dispatcher will then come back on the line and talk you through the emergency procedure to assist you in providing initial care.


3. Once we are notified of the call we begin our response:

- If one of our members is in the area, they will respond directly to the scene to initiate emergency medical care as a first responder.   This may also be a member of the on-duty crew if it is quicker to respond to the scene than to ambulance headquarters.

- If they are not already there, one or more of the duty crew will go directly to the ambulance headquarters to pick up the ambulance and respond to the scene.

4. Upon arrival of the ambulance the patient is packaged and placed in the ambulance and transported to the appropriate medical facility.