Westport Volunteer Emergency Medical Service honored its members on Saturday June 7^th at a picnic held at the Compo Beach. Plaques for individual honors were presented, along with pins for years of volunteer service in five-year segments. WVEMS was founded in 1979 to help serve the Emergency Medical Service Division of the Westport Police Department, and 14 of the original charter members are still active.  The volunteers provide coverage for the Town’s ambulances, raise funds to purchase the ambulances and onboard equipment, and hold the highest professional skill certifications permitted in Connecticut. The organization has EMTs, Explorers, Crew Chiefs and Paramedics on duty in shifts, responding from the joint WPD/EMS headquarters, 24-hours a day, every day.   

 The individual plaques were awarded to Carole Grob as the Emergency Medical Technician of the Year; Donna Patchen as the Volunteer of the Year; Barbara Babash as Crew Chief of the Year and Alexis Takahashi as Explorer of the Year.  A Special Award was presented to Isabel Blair and the CPR program for raising CPR awareness in the community leading to Westport being designated by the State Department of Public Health as a “HeartSafe Community.”  Alan Stolz and Jay Paretzky received awards for their 29 years of service to the service including covering the ambulance, assisting with training and just being there when we needed them.  Matt Soicher, a new member, was recognized for jumping right in and becoming a member of the service, covering day shifts two to three days a week.  Also, Tony Gallo, our building custodian, was recognized for going above and beyond the call of duty for making our time at EMS easier. 

Service honors for 5 years went to Jamie Whittendale, Maryann Brouillard, Leigh Leibel, Ian Hunter, Jillian Rothman, Ross Solomon, Bryan Stenson and Steve Brothers; 10 year honors went to Adam Sappern, Gregory Coghlan, and Barbra Utting; and 25 year honors to Loretta Harsche and Andrew Dinitz.

Also announced was the awarding of a scholarship to Explorer members Geoffrey Jordan, who will be attending the University of Pennsylvania in the Fall.

WVEMS offers a variety of public courses such as CPR, and Defensive Driving. Tours of Police/EMS headquarters for scouts and clubs/organizations may also be scheduled. Please join our award winners in "Volunteering the Gift of Life" by looking into one of our medical and non medical opportunities. Those interested in volunteering or in getting more information about our programs, should go to our web site at www.westportems.org or call 341-6014.