Community Corner

Menlo Park Fire Paramedic Program Marks 25 Years Saving Lives

This year marks a historic anniversary for Menlo Park Fire's pioneering paramedic program, which launched in 1994.

MENLO PARK, CA — It has now been a quarter century since the Menlo Park Fire Protection District launched its pioneering paramedic program — the first of its kind in San Mateo County, the district said in a news release.

In 1994, Menlo Park began fielding Advanced Life Support Fire Paramedics on all seven of its front-line fire engines — the culmination of a 12-year effort, according to the district. Today, each of the district's 10 first response units has at least one paramedic, and over half of the district's 100 firefighters are fire paramedics — the most in San Mateo County.

"I worked here before we had [fire medics] and we felt pretty powerless at times, we lost people that could have been saved and watched them suffer more than they should have," Chief Harold Schapelhouman said in the statement.

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Most of the district's 9,000 calls this year were medical incidents, and paramedics typically get to the scene several minutes before an ambulance does — a crucial lifesaving window.

"The ability to medically intervene and improve a patient's condition or save a life is one of the greatest and most satisfying aspects of our job," Schapelhouman said.

Find out what's happening in Menlo Park-Athertonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.

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