Civic leader Gordon Franklin Vickery (1920-1996) began his service to the City of Seattle in 1946 with the fire department. During his tenure as Chief from 1963-1972 he won praise for his efforts to hire minorities and women. In 1968, Chief Vickery began discussions with Dr. Leonard Cobb, Chief of Cardiology at Harborview, about training firefighters in emergency life-saving techniques. Their discussions led to the 1970 debut of the Seattle Fire Department's unit Medic One, one of the first paramedic programs in the nation to provide physician-level assistance to cardiac patients at the scene of the heart attack.
In this image Chief Vickery poses in Mini Medic I, the 1/10 scale model of Mobile One built by Spencer Chamberlain and used as a fundraiser for the unit. Despite the program's record of success, the program was initially met with resistance and struggled financially for several years.
Caption information source: "Vickery, Gordon Franklin (1920-1996)," by David Wilma, HistoryLink.org Essay 2549 Caption information source: http://www.kingcounty.gov/depts/health/emergency-medical-services/medic-one/history.aspx
ID Number: 1995.31.13
Date: 1971
Physical Description: 1 photographic print : color ; 8 x 10 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. Metadata updated as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.
