OUR STORY
HARWINTON AMBULANCE ASSOCIATION
"As a department of professional, compassionate, and educated personnel, we are committed to ensuring the health, safety, and well-being of all individuals through skilled and timely medical intervention and unwavering dedication to our patients. We serve with integrity, respect, and a deep sense of responsibility, working to inspire others within our community to help us achieve future goals.”
Since 1963, the Harwinton Ambulance Association has been serving the community of Harwinton and surrounding towns.
Since its inception, the organization has maintained its ability to be served by community volunteers, with many becoming certified Emergency Medical Responders and Emergency Medical Technicians.
The ambulance's first headquarters was the far left hand corner of the old highway department's garage on Locust Road. With the expansion of the Harwinton Fire Department in the early 1980s, the ambulance then moved it's facilities to a single bay with adjoining day room at the Harwinton Fire Station on Burlington Road.
Since the late 1990s, the organization had looked for parcels of land that could be used for a stand alone facility, equipped with necessary bunk rooms, adequate facilities for staff, training areas, secured supply closets and adequate room for the ambulances. It was not until after 2010, that the ambulance was able to secure state funding to purchase the parcel of land adjacent to the fire station (the site of the old Texaco gas station), and eventually build a stand alone EMS headquarters.
Which started with just a handful of townsmen looking to provide basic medical care and transport for their neighbors, has turned into an organization that is home to over 60 men and women, ages 15 and up, 2 fully equipped ambulances capable of providing the most technologically advanced basic life support care and is situated in a building that will help the organization grow for years into the future.
Run Statistics
In 2023 Harwinton EMS received and responded to 700 calls for service. Our calls range from vehicle accidents to traumatic injuries to medical emergencies. The ambulance is also dispatched to certain incidents requiring a fire department response to ensure quick access to medical treatment should any of our firefighters become injured. These types of responses include car fires, building fires, and brush fires.
Medical Services
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:
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Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Omega
Ambulances
We utilize two ambulances to provide for the EMS needs of our community. This allows us to handle multiple calls simultaneously or to handle multiple patients at a single incident such as a car accident. It also ensures that we always have an ambulance available during periods of maintenance or repair.
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Unit 662
Built on a 2016 Dodge chassis by Eastford Fire Rescue. This is a type III ambulance
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Unit 661
Built on a 2001 Ford F350 chassis by PL Custom. This is a type III ambulance.
Equipment
In 2010 thanks to the generosity of the Thomaston Savings Bank we were able to purchase two Stryker battery powered stretchers. TSB’s grant of $10,639.20 greatly assisted in our ability to purchase these units.
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Since 1989, Harwinton EMS has utilized defibrillator units for patients experiencing cardiac arrest. We were one of the first non-paramedic level services in the area to purchase these devices. We currently use Cardiac Science Units on our ambulances and were acquired at a cost of $2,550 per unit. As these units are replaced we rotate them into the first responder inventory so our members have the ability to get a defibrillator on scene quickly. ​​
To help offset the cost of providing for the emergency medical care for our community we always welcome donations.
The money will be used by Harwinton Ambulance to purchase life-saving equipment and support operations, training, education for our trainees and members, and community outreach and education.
As a federally and state-registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization, all donations are fully tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
Donations can also be made by check or money order to "Harwinton Ambulance Association" and mailed to:
Harwinton Ambulance Association
166 Burlington Road
Harwinton, CT 06791
Thank you.....MANY THANKS...for your response to the ambulance call on January 5, 2015 to my home for my Cardiac Arrest.
Special thanks to the responding crew:
The Kellogg family, Vinnie Wheeler, Jason Emery, Kevin Ferrarrotti, Barbara McQuilkin, Garret Melanson, and Vintech crew Felica Field and Mary-Kate McAllilster and Campion's Jeff Ganung.
The value of CPR cannot be overstated. My life was saved by my wife starting compressions and the quick response of the volunteers who continued CPR and used the defibrillator. After a healing period for the cardiac arrest a triple by-pass was done on January 20 and a defibrillator implanted on April 10.
Today I'm really doing well and praise goes out to Harwinton Ambulance, LCD, Charlotte Hungerford Hospital, Life Star and Hartford Hospital. I hope the community knows the value of the Ambulance Association as the first level of care that allows the rest to take place. Without the Ambulance Association none of the rest could be achieved. Thank you!!
All the very best to the Ambulance Association!
BC