On February 24, Hall Ambulance will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the most significant advancement in emergency medical services—when the company introduced and began providing paramedic-level patient care to the people of Bakersfield and Kern County.
Then, Governor Ronald Reagan paved the way for paramedics five years earlier by signing the Wedworth-Townsend Paramedic Act, making California the first state in the nation to adopt legislation permitting paramedics to provide advanced medical life support.
The path to a paramedic program in Bakersfield began as a cardiac care course. In the April 11, 1975, edition of The Bakersfield News Bulletin, Mr. Hall shed light on what transpired. “In February 1974, San Joaquin Community Hospital approached me to see if I was interested in upgrading services and training of technicians to give better care in the field,” he said. “Cardiac care training was given from February to September. At the end of the training, our attendants decided they wanted to proceed with more training to quality for paramedic certification.” Six Hall Ambulance employees were enrolled in the first paramedic course held at the hospital’s annex in cooperation with Bakersfield College.
With their training completed, on February 24, 1975, Hall Ambulance initiated paramedic service, making it one of the first communities in California to implement this advanced level of patient care.
The introduction of paramedics also signaled the start of the transition of Hall Ambulance’s fleet from professional cars (like the Cadillac ambulance Mr. Hall started his business with in 1971) to Type II vans. These larger vehicles were needed to accommodate the advanced capabilities and equipment required to provide paramedic-level care, including cardiac defibrillators and telemetry equipment allowing paramedics to transmit electrocardiogram readings and other vital information from the field to a paramedic base station. A Mobile Intensive Care Nurse (MICN) or physician would review the information and provide the paramedic with treatment orders via a portable Motorola Coronary Observation Radio. This process continued until sometime around 1984, when paramedic protocols were established.
Just over five weeks after introducing this innovative level of patient care, Hall Ambulance put its mobile intensive care program to the test at the highest level when the company provided standby service for President Gerald Ford’s arrival and departure at Meadow’s Field. As noted in a letter from Chester L. Ward, M.D., Assistant White House Physician, he was duly impressed with Hall Ambulance’s mobile intensive care unit’s capabilities and dedicated personnel who stood by for President Ford, “It was comforting to know that if the President or anyone accompanying him during their visit to Bakersfield had needed care, there was a vehicle available as well equipped and manned from the Hall Ambulance Company. Extend our gratitude also to the able and dedicated personnel who manned your fine ambulance during the President’s successful visit to Kern County.”
Through the years, Hall Ambulance has stayed on top of advancements in advanced life support-level patient care, investing in technology, medical equipment, and continuing education for paramedics. The most recent advancement came from the pandemic when Kern County Public Health and Hall Ambulance developed an innovative program providing rapid response paramedic units. Staffed by a single paramedic in a smaller SUV, the paramedic can respond and complete their patient assessment on-scene. If they determine the patient requires their advanced level of care, they will accompany the patient in an ambulance to the hospital. If basic care is needed, the EMT crew will take over and transport to the ER, allowing the paramedic to become available to the community for the next request for medical aid.
Over the past 54 years, Hall Ambulance has received industry accolades for its services, including in 1991 when the company became the first EMS provider in California to be named the “United States Paramedic Service of the Year” by the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) and the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.
In 2020, Founder Harvey L. Hall was named by the National EMS Museum and California Ambulance Association as one of 17 native Californians responsible for shaping EMS in the United States.
Today, Hall Ambulance serves as the 9-1-1 paramedic provider for 94% of Kern County’s population, including the cities of Bakersfield, Arvin, Taft, Shafter, Wasco, Delano, Tehachapi, California City, and surrounding communities.
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