It's a phrase that has become part of the local vernacular: "If you have to have a heart attack, have it in Seattle."
So proclaimed "60 Minutes" correspondent Morley Safer during a 1974 profile about Seattle's Medic One emergency-response program. The story lauded Medic One's high standard of training, the speed with which it responded to emergency medical situations and the increased chances of survival it provided for Seattleites who had suffered sudden cardiac arrest.
So it's worth noting that the innovative program, which turns 40 this year, has become a service Seattle's citizens naturally assume is part of the city's medical landscape.
Seattle's Medic One program began in 1969 as a research program to study training firefighters as paramedics and combining ambulance services with a goal of bringing faster intervention to those suffering from heart attacks.
The plan was to improve a heart-attack victim's chances for survival with direct medical intervention prior to that patient's arrival at a hospital. The effort was undertaken by neurologist Dr. Michael Copass, University of Washington cardiologist Dr. Leonard Cobb and Seattle Fire Department Chief Gordon Vickery, with the idea that firefighters could be trained with medical skills doctors used in emergency medical situations. They would be in a position to deploy those skills where an accident or heart attack had occurred, thus saving valuable time and, in turn, saving lives.
The effort proved successful. The first Medic One call came on March 7, 1970, and 31 people's lives were saved in Medic One's first year. Medic One later expanded throughout King County in 1976 as its model of paramedic treatment was adopted by other fire departments.
Medic One later became a privately held, nonprofit organization financed by local property tax levies. The Medic One Foundation, established in the mid-'70s, is a separate entity that works on fund-raising, paramedic training and growing the program.
The program has become a model for other states and has received international notice. The Medic One Foundation reports that representatives from 24 states and 32 countries have visited to learn about creating similar programs.
For another measure of success, consider this stat from a 2006 Seattle P-I article. The story pointed out that nationally, the resuscitation rate for those who suffer from sudden cardiac arrest is between 6 and 10 percent. Contrast that with King County's 46-percent survival rate.
Beyond emergency medical response, Medic One is heavily involved in training citizens in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) through its Medic II program. Initiated in 1971, the Seattle Fire Department reports that more than 770,000 people throughout King County have been trained in CPR. Medic II officers classes throughout the region in adult CPR, infant and child CPR, as well as classes for groups or organizations that have purchased a defibrillator.
Extensive training is fundamental to Medic One's success. Paramedics are trained both academically and in the field under the supervision of both the University of Washington and Harborview Medical Center. According to the Medic One Foundation, upon completion of training, each paramedic will have 2,000 hours of instruction and 700 patient encounters. That's nearly half as much as the national standard for instruction and includes roughly three times as many patient contacts. Medic One paramedics able to perform advanced medical care as an extension of hospital emergency room doctors.
Throughout Greater King County, roughly 280 Medic One paramedics serve 1.8 million people. According to the Medic One Foundation, Medic One makes more than 160,000 response calls each year throughout Seattle and King County - that's one every three minutes - and 50,000 of those calls are considered life-threatening.
With a legacy of advanced training, prompt response and focused medical intervention, it's clear that Medic One is more than just another ambulance.
For Medic II class information, call 684-7274.
Doug Schwartz can be reached at editor@capitolhilltimes.com or 461-1308.
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