History
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Frank Pantridge MD, an Irish Physician, is widely considered to be the father of emergency medicine. He created the first mobile defibrillator, which ran on a battery. The defibrillator weighed 70 kilograms and was not ideal for use because of its weight. It was improved upon in later models, getting down to 3 kilograms. The device was a breakthrough in medicine, allowing the possibility of out-of-hospital resuscitation. He was able to take his mobile defibrillator and developed the first mobile "ICU". This invention resulted in a rapid increase in survival, as shown in his study. This did not go unnoticed in Seattle.
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Eugene Nagel was an anesthesiologist out of Florida. He pioneered the use of paramedics, the concept of a non-physician working in the field. Initially, this was frowned upon in the medical community. Laws were in place making non physician care in the field illegal in most cases. However, paramedics would ultimately become the backbone of Medic One in Seattle.
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The idea of a mobile resuscitation unit staffed by highly trained paramedics was an exciting idea, and a federal grant was awarded which funded the early years of Medic One. However, not everyone was supportive. Mayor Uhlman was noted for many controversial decisions during his tenure as mayor. He favored a private EMS ambulance company instead of Medic One. As the federal funding ran out two years into the Medic One experiment, Mayor Uhlman elected not to fund the program, forcing the leaders to approach the community directly.
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Dr. Cobb's leadership and drive pulled together the ideas of paramedics and a mobile coronary care unit in a receptive community. His dream of improving out of hospital coronary care eventually became Medic One. Cobb's drive sustained the program in the financially troubled early years. The Medic One Foundation was born from the necessity to raise money to sustain the early program. This growing pain, however, may have been one of Medic One's biggest benefits. The Foundation allowed Dr. Cobb to fulfill his vision of an ever improving system that relies on data to improve itself free from ever-changing levels of public funding and attached limitations.
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Seattle Fire Chief Gordon Vickery was appointed by Mayor Uhlman and began his career somewhat controversially, making many personnel changes early in his tenure. He was instrumental in supporting Dr. Cobb's vision of Medic One. His idea to bring CPR training to the public (Medic Two) would later be taken up by the American Heart Association. The Seattle Fire Department also had the ideal infrastructure for a rapid response system. "The fire department placed stations so that they would be within five minutes from any location in the city" -A.D. Vickery. The placement of these fire departments were instrumental for a quick responding EMS, making it only logical to work with Dr. Cobb.
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