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Hannah Zimmerman, PV Ambulance Youth Corps Member Receives Double Honors
by Edward Paul Greiff Maureen McHugh, Hannah Zimmerman, Michael McHugh
"They are my best friends, I don't know what I would do without them," says Hannah Zimmerman about her fellow Putnam Valley Ambulance Corps Volunteers. They must feel the same way about her because on Sunday, April 15, 2007 she received two awards at the PVVAC Annual Awards and Recognition Ceremony; The Christine McHugh Youth Corps member of the year award for 2006, and recognition as one of the top three Youth Corps Responders for 2006 (the other two recipients were Justin Tavella and Will Eickler).
Maureen McHugh said she was glad to see Hannah win the award because she is such a great person. The Christine McHugh is given in honor of Mrs. McHugh's daughter who was killed in a tragic car accident. At the time of her death Christine was a twenty-eight year old graduate of Pace University Law School. She was one of the top three students in her law class and a practicing lawyer. In addition, she was an Ambulance Corps volunteer and married to a another Ambulance Corps volunteer. One day a truck hit her car in a head on collision and she lost her life. "You never get over it," says Maureen McHugh and the Award helps to keep her memory alive.
Hannah Zimmerman is a tall, thin, seventeen-year-old with sharp crystal clear blue eyes, blond hair and a serious, no-nonsense disposition when it comes to her role as Third Lieutenant with the Putnam Valley Volunteer Ambulance Youth Corps. With school and other commitments she can only "Roster" three hours a week and does so on Thursdays with her father who is also a member of the PVVAC. When the alarm goes off and she is around, Hannah responds to as many calls as she can.
Although it has only been one year that she has been going on calls it has been an exciting year. Some of the calls Hannah has been on would test the fortitude of a much more seasoned veteran. One ambulance call occurred on Peekskill Hollow Road near Bryant Pond Road. The car had been traveling at a high rate of speed says Hannah, and they could not maneuver a turn and a thirteen year-old girl sitting in the back without a seatbelt was forcefully ejected through the side window onto the road. When Hannah arrived the girl had died.
On another call Hannah was giving the patient CPR and he was vomiting pizza all over her; they were unable to save his life.
For a young person both in age and experience Hannah is encountering situations that have tested her mettle and her commitment to the Ambulance Corps. She is cool under pressure and displays the maturity of a seasoned veteran. She is not exactly sure of what career she will pursue in the future but it will be in the medical field.
How does a young person develop such a strong affinity for volunteering, working with the ambulance corps, and treating casualties? Hannah's mother and father have provided a strong support system and are full of encouragement, but it was Hannah herself who provided the compelling desire to take action. And the proximate cause of that action was a very close call with death.
Hannah went into Northern Westchester Hospital for ambulatory surgery to have a minor hernia corrected. That night at home she began to bleed internally from a nicked artery from the earlier surgery. She passed out and the Putnam Valley Ambulance was called around 5am. They quickly responded and took her to Northern Westchester. When she got there the surgeon said she had lost over one-third of her blood supply and just got there in time. Hannah was so impressed by the ambulance attendants, how kind they were, how professional they were, and that they were the bravest and kindest people. She decided then that she was going to become one of them, and she did.
Hannah Zimmerman's message to others, "I am so glad that I joined the PVVAC Youth Corps because I want to contribute something positive to my community. You get to help others, and you feel good about yourself. When you volunteer you really get much more than you give. You make new friends and learn to work as a team. My fellow volunteers and advisors are what make the PVVA Youth Corps so great. You learn to be both a leader and a follower depending upon the situation. You receive excellent training in CPR, first aid, and how to assist on an ambulance call. The work you do is very exciting and you can have a lot of fun. You may even help save a life. There are so many problems in the world today but we can each make a difference. It's okay to start small."
A poem written by Hannah Zimmerman entitled "Volunteer:"
What does it feel like to volunteer?
Sometimes it is gratifying knowing
That the man or woman you just brought
To the hospital will now be fine.
Sometimes it is despairing watching the
Family cry when they have lost a member.
Sometimes you have a wonderful time talking
With the patients in the back of the ambulance
Sometimes it's all work and you don't get to talk with them.
But everything I have seen in the last year
Is a life changing experience.
This is what it feels like to volunteer with
The Putnam valley Volunteer Ambulance Corps
Volunteer, it makes your life better.
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