On March 1, 2025, Hall Ambulance Service, Inc. will celebrate 50 years of service to the city of Arvin.  This community holds a special place in the heart of the Hall family and the many paramedics, emergency medical technicians, and dispatchers who have cared for its citizens over the past five decades, as it was the first city outside of Bakersfield that Hall Ambulance Founder Harvey L. Hall expanded service after starting his business in 1971.

The prologue to the Hall Ambulance story started on a dare, literally.  In 1960, Harvey L. Hall was working as an orderly at Mercy Hospital in downtown Bakersfield when he ran into a friend working as an ambulance attendant. A conversation ensued, and the friend dared Hall to go on an ambulance ride-along, citing that they would have a good time running around with the red lights, sirens, and all that stuff.  Mr. Hall took him up on his dare, and to his surprise, the ambulance service owner called the next day and asked if he enjoyed the ride.  Mr. Hall confessed that he had and was offered a job.

For the next 10 years, he worked in every aspect of the ambulance service, becoming a dispatcher, crew foreman, assistant manager, and operations manager.  Even in those early days, his passion and dedication were readily apparent.  A 1967 article in The Bakersfield Californian, which detailed his heroic efforts to save a child, contained a quote that would set the stage for the kind of ambulance service he would eventually build.  Asked how he felt after delivering the child to the hospital, Mr. Hall said, “It is my duty to perform to the greatest of my ability.  I am dedicated to the ambulance industry…towards upgrading the profession and being able to preserve lives.”

Because of his outstanding work, Mr. Hall was recognized as an exceptional caregiver with a sterling reputation.  With 11 years of experience, he developed a vision for the type of ambulance company he desired to build based on his ideals of care, compassion, and community.

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

Having gained valuable experience in his first four years of business, Mr. Hall was ready to take the next step by expanding his service outside of Bakersfield.  He looked at the city of Arvin, where various attempts by other services to staff on-call volunteer programs proved unsuccessful.  On March 1, 1975, Hall Ambulance initiated service to the agricultural community and, a year later, expanded to neighboring Lamont.

Service requests appeared to be slow initially, but the results of a survey showed promise of projected population and industrial growth.  At a January 1977 Arvin City Council meeting, Mr. Hall announced plans to expand to full-time, 24-hour service from the company’s ambulance station located at 429 Tucker Street.

Through the years, Hall Ambulance has maintained a close relationship with the city of Arvin and its people through providing exemplary ambulance service and being an active part of the community.  This includes participation in community events, doing ambulance demos at local schools to teach children about EMS, participating in the Every 15 Minutes program at Arvin High School, and in the annual Arvin Christmas Parade which Mr. Hall helped save in 2017.

When word reached Mr. Hall that the 62nd Annual Arvin Christmas Parade was in jeopardy of being cancelled, he immediately stepped forward to offer financial assistance.  He personally drove to the parade in one of his company’s new paramedic ambulances accompanied by Siren the Rescue Dog (Hall Ambulance’s mascot).  When he arrived at the announcer’s booth, he hopped out of the ambulance with a big check in hand that he presented to parade organizers.  His donation of $3,500 ensured the parade would go on for another year to the delight of the families and children of Arvin.

In looking back at 50 years of service to Arvin, there was one incident that stood out that pushed Hall Ambulance’s resources to their limit.  The natural disaster known as the Great Bakersfield Dust Storm of 1977 caused $40 million in damage and five deaths.  The storm’s eye settled over Arvin, where the U.S. Geological Survey estimated wind gusts reached over 192 mph, causing extensive damage to the city’s buildings and decimating the area’s ag fields.

Hall Ambulance staged several ambulances and paramedics at the Arvin High School Gym, which was set-up as the city’s evacuation center.  According to news reports, 35 patients suffered severe injuries requiring Hall Ambulance to transport them to Bakersfield-area hospitals.

With the power out, Hall Ambulance was unable to receive direct requests for medical aid.  Determined to still answer the call, Mr. Hall spent 23 hours straight operating by lantern and a car battery, which he used to power his phones and radios.  Ambulance crews sometimes responded to calls with visibility limited to two or three feet.

This perseverance and commitment symbolize Mr. Hall’s and his ambulance company’s dedication to the communities it serves.  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.

Mr. Hall lost his life on May 19, 2018, to sporadic Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease.   Since then, his wife, Mrs. Lavonne C. Hall, who serves as Chairman of the Board and CAO, President & CEO Jonathon R. Surface, a dedicated management team, and employees have carried forward
Mr. Hall’s ideals, ensuring Hall Ambulance’s high standard of care remains unchanged.

In celebration of this milestone anniversary, Hall Ambulance is hosting a community celebration on March 1, 2025, at Garden in the Sun Park, featuring ambulance displays including Tech 1 (Mr. Hall’s first ambulance that he started his business with), an appearance by Siren the Rescue Dog, mariachi music, and community resource booths.

Today, Hall Ambulance’s EMS crews respond to those in need of medical aid from
Ambulance Post 54, located at 144½ Arvin Avenue.

-30-