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An interesting read about the start of Paramedics in NYC:
http://www.emsresponder.com/web/online/Top-EMS-News/Column--Father-of-Paramedics-Sends-the-ED-to-the-Patient-/1$9841
http://www.emsresponder.com/web/online/Top-EMS-News/Column--Father-of-Paramedics-Sends-the-ED-to-the-Patient-/1$9841
Column: 'Father of Paramedics' Sends the ED to the Patient
GAIL LARKIN
Staten Island Advance (New York)
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - A little more than 35 years ago, a young physician with a vision changed your life. His June 30 passing leaves those of us in medicine with an emptiness, but at the same time, we must celebrate a life well lived and dedicated to helping you, the anonymous person who might someday be in need of care.
The early 1970s were a time a rapid change in the field of emergency medicine. It was still mostly a "scoop and run" approach - getting patients to the hospital as quickly as possible.
Even with the improved training, pre-hospital care left much to be desired. Patients often died before reaching the hospital. A young physician in the Bronx had a vision - 'Why not bring the hospital to the patient?'
Dr. Sheldon Jacobson, or "Shelly" as most of us knew him, is considered the "Father of paramedics." In 1974, he took a small group of young men working as ambulance drivers and attendants and transformed them into professionals who became the foundation upon which much of New York City's pre-hospital emergency medicine was built.