Friday, February 10, marks the 52nd Anniversary of Hall Ambulance Service, Inc., celebrated by the Company as Founder’s Day.

The prologue leading to the Hall Ambulance story began in 1960 when Harvey L. Hall was working as an orderly at Mercy Hospital in Bakersfield. He ran into a friend working as an ambulance attendant who dared Hall to go on a ride along with him, citing they would have a good time running around with the red lights, sirens, and all that stuff.

In a 1991 article in The Bakersfield Californian, Mr. Hall reflected on that moment that would pave the way for a 58-year career in pre-hospital care. “I took him up on his dare,” Hall recalled. “To my surprise, the next morning, his boss called and asked me if I enjoyed the ride. I confessed that I had. He offered me a job. That’s what I have been doing ever since. That was September 1960.”

With 11 years of experience under his belt, Mr. Hall had developed a vision for the type of ambulance company he desired to build based on his ideals of care, compassion, and community. “I really felt there were things that could be done differently in this business. I wanted to create a company that could be more service-oriented, a company that would become an important part of the community,” he said.

On February 10, 1971, with a $15,000 bank loan, two ambulances, and a lot of enthusiasm, Hall Ambulance Service began answering the call from his residence, located at 1307 S. H Street serving as headquarters.

Under his tenure, referred to as the Founder’s Era (1971-2018), Mr. Hall grew his business based on building relationships with the local hospitals, public safety agencies, communities, and customers served (Mr. Hall didn’t call them patients). He was an innovator, always at the forefront of defining standards in patient care, including the implementation of paramedics in February 1975.

In 2018, Mr. Hall became ill, and just two weeks and seven hours after being diagnosed with Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease, his battle came to an end on May 19. His impact as a pioneer in pre-hospital care carries on. In 2020, the National EMS Museum and the California Ambulance Association named Harvey L. Hall as one of 17 native Californians responsible for shaping EMS in the United States.

In celebration of Founder’s Day, a handout was created providing an abbreviated biography of Harvey L. Hall and the Ambulance Company he Built. The document can be downloaded here. Founders Day Abbreviated Biography Final