PRH Celebrates EMS Week and Local Providers 

EMS Week is marked with a banquet to recognize the great providers in the Seacoast. Portsmouth Hospital Emergency Department awards area EMS workers with a variety of awards. This year members of Local 1313 were awarded several accolades. Congratulations to all! We know we have the best of the best and are please when they are publicly acknowledged.  

Local 1313 Member Tim Dame Receiving the EMS Provider of the year.
	Local 1313 Members   Adam LaMonica  Peter Gordon (4039) Jonathan Gray Steven Smith Receive the Trauma Service Line EMS Providers of the Year.
	The Portsmouth Fire Department also received EMS Agency of the Year in large part to the many community projects and support the members of Local 1313 provide to the region.

We are pleased and proud of all the members of Local 1313 for the great work they do every day. 

By Suzanne LaurentBuy This Phot

Portsmouth Firefighter/EMT Bruce Gosselin supports his CHaD buddy Toby Mann, 12, as he tries out the firehose at Central Fire Station on Court Street on Thursday. The program matched up Toby who is diagnosed with high-functioning autism and anxiety with Gosselin and Portsmouth Deputy Fire Chief James Heinz, not pictured, who will play in Battle of the Badges in September to benefit the Children's Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock.Ioanna Raptis/iraptis@seacoastonline.com

PORTSMOUTH — Toby Mann loved riding in the fire truck the best.

The 12-year-old from Manchester received the VIP treatment at the central Portsmouth fire station Thursday afternoon 

Toby is a "CHaD buddy" to Deputy Fire Chief James Heinz and firefighter/EMT Bruce Gosselin. The two fire professionals were chosen to play in the 2014 Battle of the Badges Autumn Baseball Classic in September to benefit patients and families of Children's Hospital at Dartmouth-Hitchcock.

This is Gosselin's fourth year playing and the second for Heinz.

Toby's mother, Hannah Mann, brought him to the fire station and she had fun watching as he tried on firefighter equipment, rode the truck and used a hose. He asked about the yellow exhaust pipes and got to see the chief's office and the living quarters for the firefighters.

"Toby is a different face of CHaD," Mann said. "While a lot of children there have cancer and other serious illnesses, Toby was diagnosed with high-functioning autism with anxiety and sensory dysfunction disorder."

Mann said Toby was first diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder at the age of 4, but that the diagnosis "just didn't fit."

She took him to a pediatrician at Dartmouth-Hitchcock's Manchester office, who sent Toby to psychiatric neurologists and other specialists.

Toby is one of four children, with a twin, Noah, a sister, Emily, 20, and a younger brother, Jack, 8.

His mother said Toby currently is only being treated pharmacologically for his anxiety and with behavior modification for the rest of his diagnoses.

"We finally received an individual education plan (IEP) this summer, which will help him a lot in school," Mann said. Toby will be an eighth-grader at Parkside Middle School in Manchester.

She said Toby is bullied a lot in school and comes home most days saying he "has no friends."

"It's hard for him, as Noah plays football, gets good grades and is popular," Mann said.

She describes Toby as a sweet child who surprised her by baking a batch of chocolate chip cookies for her the other day.

Toby said his favorite thing in school is science. He was excited about a recent trip to Six Flags New England.

"I rode the Sky Screamer," he said as his eyes lit up. "It was so high, you could see the whole city."

Mann began to volunteer at CHaD in Manchester when her youngest child went off to school, and she now works there as a scheduling secretary.

As she watched the group of firefighters give Toby their full attention, Mann said, "It's nice to see heroes as humans."

Gosselin planned to be off for the shift so that he would not get called away while the Manns were visiting. Heinz was not able to be present Thursday afternoon.

Gosselin said each firefighter on the baseball team must raise a minimum of $1,000.

"Last year, the event raised $40,000 from both fire and police units," he said. Gosselin will play center field and Heinz will play third base.

Gosselin said during the year, the firefighters chosen to play in the game are invited to CHaD in Lebanon to visit the young patients.

"The money we raise goes toward the kids' birthday parties and holiday parties at the hospital," he said. "It's pretty special. Instead of wheeling the kids to the party on a stretcher, they put them in wheelbarrows and do other fun things."

Gosselin said the money raised also goes to families to help with travel costs by purchasing gas cards.

There is a fund-raiser for the city's firefighter ball players at the 99 Restaurant in Portsmouth on Sept. 3, with 15 percent of the bill between 6 and 10 p.m. going to the fund-raising efforts.

The 2014 CHaD Battle of the Badges Autumn Baseball Classic will showcase a battle between police officers and firefighters from across New Hampshire at the Northeast Delta Dental Stadium, home of the Fisher Cats, in Manchester at 1:35 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27.

It's a great event," Gosselin said. "It costs $10 a ticket, but kids under 10 are free." He said between innings there are fun games for the kids to participate in with the firefighters and the police.

"We usually root for the blue," Mann said. "But, this year, it will definitely be for the red."

To donate to the CHaD Battle of the Badges and to purchase tickets for the game, visitwww.chadbaseball.org. Once there, individuals can be found by name for donations.