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1968 A few townspeople of Winchester, Connecticut have a plan to create an ambulance company to provide First Aid to the town. On Februay 1, 1968, Winsted's newspaper, the Evening Citizen, runs a fundraising ad. Click on the thumbnail to see the Evening Citizen ad. |
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1968 According to the Evening Citizen, Winsted Ambulance needs volunteers. The Association, the article notes, is trying to raise funds to purchase a new ambulance from Maloney Ambulance Service, which had served the town prior to the Association's formation. Click on the thumbnail to see the Evening Citizen article. |
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1968 Snoopy's Crew plays a benefit concert at Gilbert School for the purchase of a new ambulance. Admission is $1.50 per person, and volunteers are needed, with "excellent training" provided by local physicians. Click on the thumbnail to see the Evening Citizen article. |
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1968 James P. Walsh of Maloney Ambulance Service sells the association an ambulance for $1,250. He is pictured with Second Selectman John E. Larkin. The Association begins operations that very day with 45 attendants providing 24 hours coverage. Click on the thumbnail to see Winsted Ambulance's first ambulance. |
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1968 The Association did not start out providing Emergency Care at the EMT level. Members of Winsted Ambulance Ambulance attended a 50 hour course entitled "Emergency Care of the Sick and Injured." Click on the thumbnail to see the course brochure. |
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1969 Imagine needing an ambulance... and not knowing what number to dial. Do you call the operator? The police? The fire department? The hospital? In 1969, a special phone is installed in the Winsted Police Department for emergencies. Click on the thumbnail to read about the days before emergency number 911. |
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1970 The Association files an application for hydraulic rescue gear. Winsted Ambulance did its own extrications until the late 1990's, when this responsibility was given to the Fire Department. Click on the thumbnail to read about the application. |
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1977 "In days gone by, the main job of an ambulance attendant was to get the patient in the ambulance and to the hospital as fast as possible. Over the years, things have changed drastically... Today's ambulance attendants are highly trained emergency medical technicians... The EMT has recieved a minimum of 81 hours of classroom instruction." Click on the thumbnail to read about the Association's upgrade to the EMT level. |
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1989 Founding Member Ted Todd plans a First Responder program to serve Colebrook. The First Responder program would later expand to serve the farthest reaches of Winsted Ambulance's Primary Service Area. Click on the thumbnail to read about the plan. |
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1990 On the evening of November 21, 1990, five First Responders get their portable scanners and first aid supplies. The Colebrook First Responders are born. Founding Member Ted Todd comments on this new First Responder program in place in Colebrook. Click on the thumbnail to read the interview. |
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1996 The State of Connecticut Office of EMS notifies President Cy Goulet that Winsted Ambulance's application to provide care at the Mobile Intensive Care EMT-Intermediate level has been approved. Winsted begins providing Advanced Level Life Support, adding the skills of Intravenous fluid therapy and esophageal intubation to their BLS care. Click on the thumbnail to read the state's letter. |
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2001 Construction is underway on the new headquarters, slated to be finished in January of 2002. The Association moves temporarily in 2001, and after an eight month stay at the Winsted center Firehouse, the ambulance company will settle into its new home, having outgrown its sheet metal "temporary" home of thirty-two years. Click on the thumbnail to see a picture of construction taken on 11/23/01. |