Tag Archives: Hartford Courant

Regional Food Drive In Manchester Considered A Success

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By JESSE LEAVENWORTH

The Hartford Courant

4:57 p.m. EST, November 25, 2013

MANCHESTER — A regional food drive in its fifth year tallied “phenomenal” results, an organizer announced Monday.

The Emergency of Hunger drive, run by emergency response agencies and Rotary Club members, gathered 38,309 food items, $24,143 in cash, checks and gift cards and 596 turkeys, event organizer Dave Skoczulek said.

Donations were gathered at supermarkets in Manchester, South Windsor, Vernon, Windsor and Enfield, the latest community to join the effort. The donations go to food pantries and shelters in each town.

“Because we keep adding towns and changing hours and tinkering with the format, it’s hard to say if it was the biggest year,” Skoczulek said. “But I would say it was the best year. We had the most fun, brought in a huge amount, had the best interactions with the public and saw the biggest desire to give.”

Over the past five years, the drive has tallied 147,000 food items, $96,186 in donations and 4,170 turkeys.

Read the Courant article by clicking here…

Emergency Of Hunger Food Drive Starts In Four Towns

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By JESSE LEAVENWORTH

The Hartford Courant

3:37 p.m. EST, November 15, 2013

Read the Courant version here…

Food Drive 2013

MANCHESTER — Emergency responders and Rotary Club members launched a regional drive Friday to collect food and other donations for needy people.

This is the fifth year of the Emergency of Hunger Food Drive. Representatives of police, fire and ambulance agencies, Rotary Club members and pantry managers from Manchester, South Windsor and Vernon gathered Friday at Manchester Area Conference of Churches Charities to kick off the drive.

Volunteers in those towns, Enfield and Windsor collect food and monetary donations at area supermarkets. In the past five years, the drive has gathered about 108,000 food and personal care items, 4,100 turkeys and more than $75,000 in cash, checks and gift cards, organizers said.

All collections are to be held at Stop & Shop supermarkets, except one at Geissler’s Supermarket in South Windsor. Dates and times for the collections are:

Manchester — Saturday and Sunday and Nov. 23 and 24 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; 286 Broad St.

Enfield — Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; 54 Hazard Ave.

Rockville — Nov. 23 and 24 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; 50 Windsorville Road

Vernon — Nov. 23 and 24 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; 10 Pitkin Road

South Windsor — Saturday and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.at the Stop & Shop at 1739 Ellington Road and on the same days and times at Geissler’s Supermarket, 965 Sullivan Ave.

Windsor held its collection earlier this month, organizers said.

All food and donations go to food banks in the towns where they are donated, organizers said.

“In other words, everything stays local so that neighbors are helping neighbors,” organizer David Skoczulek of Ambulance Service of Manchester wrote in a news release.

ASM to Appear in Manchester Fire Department Parade Sunday

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By JESSE LEAVENWORTH
The Hartford Courant 6:00 p.m. EDT, October 8, 2013
hc-manchester-parade-1010-20131008-001

Credit – Hartford Courant

MANCHESTER — In a show of pride and a celebration of history, the Eighth Utilities District Manchester Fire Department will hold a parade Sunday.

The 125th anniversary parade is scheduled to step off at 1 p.m. with lights flashing, sirens wailing, bagpipes and drums sounding and firefighters from throughout the region marching in full dress uniform.

Among the 40 contingents slated to march, most represent fire departments, parade Chairman and Eight District firefighter Ryan Bilodeau said. Marchers will include first responders from the Manchester Police Department and Ambulance Service of Manchester, along with the Manchester Regional Police & Fire Pipe Band and the Patriot Guard Riders.

Read the whole article here…

Aetna Responds: Minor Mishap At Airport Fly-In

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Note: Aetna Ambulance does NOT provide emergency services to the Town of Simsbury. Aetna’s presence was at the discretion of the Simsbury Volunteer Ambulance Association in accordance with Department of Public Health guidelines. Always dial 9-1-1 in the case of an emergency.

By DAVID OWENS, dowens@courant.com

http://www.courant.com/community/simsbury/hc-simsbury-airport-incident-0917-20130917,0,6201629.storyThe Hartford Courant

September 16, 2013

SIMSBURY — The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating an incident at Simsbury Airport Sunday morning where an airplane veered suddenly off the runway.

The airplane was arriving at the airport about 10 a.m. as part of it 28th Annual Simsbury Fly-In. The event features airplanes and antique cars.

“The airplane seemed to have landed appropriately, and then for some reason it just veered to the left, and traveled off the runway,” said Simsbury police Capt. Nick Boulter, who was at the fly-in. The plane “traveled toward the first line of classic cars that were lined up there, the made an abrupt turn just before that line and the wing struck a classic VW bus or van. It was very close to the spectator line.”

There were no injuries to spectators or people on board the airplane, Boulter said. Simsbury firefighters, police, an Aetna ambulance crew and fly-in staff reacted immediately, Boulter said. Two Federal Aviation Administration inspectors were at the fly-in and are investigating, he said.

Read the full Courant article here…

ASM Responds: School Bus Accident on I-84 In East Hartford

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By CHRISTINE DEMPSEY
The Hartford Courant

hc-east-hartford-school-bus-0907-20130906-0017:56 a.m. EDT, September 6, 2013

EAST HARTFORD — Three ambulances have responded to a school bus accident on I-84, according to an ambulance company spokesman.

The accident happened about 7:30 a.m., on I-84 west, near the Connecticut Boulevard ramp. Ambulance Service of Manchester, LLC responded, said David Skoczulek of Aetna Ambulance Service, Inc.

The injuries are minor, he stated in an emailed press release. A small school bus is involved, he said. Damage to the bus is reported to be minor.

It wasn’t clear if the injured occupants are students. Read the Courant article here.

EMT Course at MCC Prepares Students for Certification

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Ambulance Service of Manchester, LLC.Mike Jordan-Reilly, Manchester Community College

7:10 p.m. EDT, August 15, 2013 (Originally posted in the Hartford Courant)

Manchester Community College‘s Continuing Education Division offers an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) course that fully prepares students to take the certification exam.

The MCC Credit-Free course is offered in partnership with the Ambulance Service of Manchester (ASM) LLC, whose staff teaches the MCC course on site at the ambulance building located at 275 New State Road in Manchester.

“This course will prepare students to sit for the State of Connecticut and National Registry Board EMT Basic examination,” said Steve Conley, Director of Operations for Ambulance Service of Manchester, LLC. “This test is a primary qualification for EMT certification.”

An EMT is a first responder in the event of accident or illness and must assess injuries, administer emergency medical care, extricate trapped individuals and transport sick or injured people to medical facilities.

ASM, a 2012 recipient of the Governor’s Award for Career EMS Services, provides Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to Manchester, East Hartford, Bolton and supplemental paramedic service and transport to the Town of Windsor. ASM also provides paramedic intercept services to Glastonbury, South Windsor,Stafford Springs and Somers and responds to Basic Life Support (BLS) and Advanced Life Support(ALS) 9-1-1 requests to many surrounding communities in Hartford, Tolland and Windham Counties.

Training Room 2The ASM staff will begin the Fall 2013 offering of the MCC course on Monday, September 9. It runs for 13 successive Mondays and 12 successive Wednesdays, through December 16, from 6 -9:30 p.m. It also includes 12 clinical sessions held on successive Saturdays, from Sept. 21 through Dec. 16, from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. The course fee is $750 (refer to CRN 31723).

Ann Bonney, MCC’s director of Credit-Free Programs added, “Taking this course through the MCC partnership with ASM means students have access to hands-on experts in the field for instruction and clinical work, and it provides students with the added benefit of official college transcript that serves as a record of their education.”

For more information, call the Credit Free Information line at 860-512-2800, or to register, contact the Registrar’s Office at 860-512-3232, or visit http://www.manchestercc.edu/continuing/creditfree.php.

Hartford Courant: Manchester Ambulance Company Changes Fleet

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Mercedes Sprinter ambulance, left. and Ford ambulance. Ambulance Service of Manchester has almost completed a fleet change from the Fords to the Mercedes emergency vehicles. (Ambulance Service of Manchester / July 25, 2013)

Mercedes Sprinter ambulance, left. and Ford ambulance. Ambulance Service of Manchester has almost completed a fleet change from the Fords to the Mercedes emergency vehicles. (Ambulance Service of Manchester / July 25, 2013)

3:24 p.m. EDT, July 25, 2013

by Jesse Leavenworth

MANCHESTER — A local ambulance company has made a substantial investment in its fleet over the past four years, gradually replacing Fords with what is now a German/American emergency vehicle.

Ambulance Service of Manchester is among the first medical response companies of its size in the nation to switch its line to Sprinter ambulances, ASM spokesman Dave Skoczulek said Thursday. Sprinters had been a Dodge product, but are now part of the Mercedes-Benz line.

At the end of the month, the company will have replaced 27 of its 28 ambulances with Sprinters. The only remaining Ford will be the company’s bariatric ambulance, which is equipped to handle heavy patients.

The diesel-powered Mercedes ambulances get three to four miles more per gallon than the Ford E-350 vans they replaced, have more head-room can remain in service longer with less maintenance and are equipped with a stablity system that the Fords lacked, Skoczulek said. Another advantage is the Sprinter’s sliding side door, a roadside safety improvement over the Fords, which had swing-out side doors.

The Sprinters arrive from Germany as spare vans and are outfitted as ambulances by North Carolina-based American Emergency Vehicles. The Dodge and Mercedes Sprinters have cost as much as $20,000 more than the $56,000 Fords, Skoczulek said, “but we felt that the improved gas mileage and decreased maintenance was worth the investment.”

“We didn’t expect to have to change after decades working in Fords,” he said, “but when the landscape shifted, we didn’t see anything comparable to the Sprinters as an overall package.” Read the story at The Hartford Courant

ASM Responds: Winter Storm Charlotte

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The Hartford Courant

By JESSE LEAVENWORTH, leavenworth@courant.com

MANCHESTER — Read the whole article here…Private ambulance providers had similar difficulties. Prevented from close access to many homes, medics had to carry patients, in some cases for 100 yards or more, through thigh-deep snow, Dave Skoczulek, spokesman for Ambulance Service of Manchester and Aetna Ambulance Service, said Monday.

Ambulances mired on roadsides and stuck in deep snow banks had to be pulled out with a four-wheel drive paramedic intercept vehicle. Total calls were less than normal, Skoczulek said, “but each call was typically more severe and took much, much more effort and much longer to complete.”

Ambulance Service of Manchester Mercedes Sprinter AmbulanceAt the height of the storm, a patient with chest pains had to be taken from Johnson Memorial Hospital in Stafford to Baystate Medical Center in Springfield. A physician arranged for a plow to escort the ambulance, and there were many other stories of plows paving the way for emergency medical personnel, Skoczulek said.

Another crew in a heavy ambulance equipped with tire chains could not make it over impassable roads with a critical care patient aboard, Skoczulek said. The crew got help from Manchester police and residents, who came over with shovels and snowblowers, he said. Eventually, a backhoe from Ansaldi Construction winched the ambulance back onto a cleared road surface, Skoczulek said.

ASM Responds: East Hartford Apartment Fire

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EAST HARTFORD— Residents of an apartment on Ellington Road leapt from their windows into the waiting arms of firefighters to escape from a three-alarm blaze early Tuesday.

A dozen people, including three firefighters, were injured, officials said. Five people were hurt, one severely, when they jumped from their windows. Residents of 38 units have been sent to the North End Senior Center on Remington Road.  Read the Courant/Fox CT article here…

East Hartford Apartment Fire- Ambulance Service of Manchester

Photo Courtesy of Hartford Courant – Fox CT

‘Emergency Of Hunger’ Food Drive Restocks Pantries At Critical Time

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Emergency of Hunger Food Drive - Ambulance Service of ManchesterBy MICHAEL WALSH, Special to The Hartford Courant
 MANCHESTER ——

The fourth annual Emergency of Hunger Food Drive, a community staple in the Manchester area since its 2009 debut, serves much more than helping the town prepare for the holiday season.

While more than 1,000 Thanksgiving turkeys are donated each year to the food drive, which is organized locally by the Ambulance Service of Manchester, those who see hunger first-hand say the food drive allows food pantries to remain stocked in the slower winter months. Continue reading →

Heavy Lifting For Ambulance Crews

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Obesity Epidemic Is Changing Emergency Medical Transport

By JESSE LEAVENWORTH, leavenworth@courant.com The Hartford Courant

October 20, 2012

Brian Langan Ambulance Service of Manchester

Emergency medical technicians have long shared a Murphy’s Law kind of reckoning about obese patients: for every additional floor in a building, the patient will weigh 100 more pounds.

It’s dark humor among men and women with an often grim, strenuous job, but obesity rates are rising throughout the state and nation, and a recently released report says the ranks of the morbidly obese will continue to balloon.

The task of transporting patients who weigh at least 100 pounds more than they should is now a daily reality in Connecticut and throughout the nation. The job strains ambulance crews, causing widespread back injuries, and piles financial burdens on both volunteer companies and professional providers.

“We’ve always had to deal with big people,” said Glenn Luedtke,safety committee chairman of the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, “but nowadays, it’s not uncommon to see someone who’s 300 pounds into the 400-pound range.” Continue reading →

ASM Responds: Car Crash in Manchester

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Ambulance Service of Manchester (ASM)
(Photo Courtesy of Hartford Courant)

HARTFORD COURANT

MANCHESTER— Three people were taken away by ambulance after an accident on Tolland Turnpike Wednesday afternoon.

The injuries were non-life threatening, police said. Two vehicles had heavy front-end damage. Police traffic Sgt. Hank Minor said speeding and inattentive driving caused the accident. A driver of a third car involved in the accident would be cited, Minor said. Read the full Courant article here… Continue reading →

ASM Responds: Students Hospitalized After Crash With Police Cruiser

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ASM Responds: Accident involving police cruiser and teenagers

ASM Responds: Accident involving police cruiser and teenagers

— Four Manchester High School students were slightly injured when a police cruiser collided with their car Tuesday, officials said.

The driver of the Oldsmobile sedan may have been pulling out of a curbside parking space, or making a u-turn in the road when the cruiser struck the driver’s side, Police Chief Marc Montminy said, but investigators are still gathering information. Read the full Hartford Courant article here…

More pictures in full blog post… Continue reading →

ASM Earns Praise from ECHN for Winter Storm Alfred Support

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ECHN praises Ambulance Service of Manchester for response during Winter Storm AlfredTo show appreciation for the coordinated response to Winter Storm Alfred, Eastern Connecticut Health Network (ECHN) placed this ad in the Hartford Courant, Journal Inquirer and The Reminder News.

ASM and Aetna provided significant discharge, inter-facility, specialty care and post-care transportation in the wake of the storm, all while responding to record high 911 volume.

Continue reading →

Emergency of Hunger Food Drive Yields Fantastic Results

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Ambulance Service of Manchester Emergency of Hunger Food Drive
An ASM ambulance, loaded with food, nearing the full mark.

News Release

MANCHESTER  – When the dust settled on the friendly but competitive “Emergency of Hunger Food Drive,” Team Manchester won in the food count, Team Vernon won in cash, checks and gift cards and Team South Windsor won in turkeys.

In total, the three teams collected:

  • 27,000 food items
  • 742 turkeys, and
  • Over $33,000 in cash, checks and gift cards.

Read the Hartford Courant Article here…

Read the Reminder article here… Continue reading →