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Public Health
Seattle & King County
401 5th Ave., Suite 1300
Seattle, WA 98104

Click here to email us

Phone: 206-296-4600
TTY Relay: 711

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Home » EMS Division » King County Medic One » Paramedics in action

King County Medic One
Photo gallery of paramedics in action

King County Medic One serves all of south King County with 7 medic units based in:

Auburn -- M6 Kent -- M7 & M11
Seatac -- M4 Renton -- M5
Federal Way -- M8 Black Diamond -- M12

Each medic unit is designed to serve as an "Mobile Emergency Room". Equipped with cardiac monitoring devices, advanced airway tools and a wide range of medications, a paramedic can often times make the difference between life and death to a critically ill or injured patient.


defibrillating a patient King County paramedics "defibrillate" or shock a patient who has suffered a cardiac arrest.

Studies at the University of Washington and Harborview Medical Center have proven that early citizen CPR and defibrillation increase the chances that a patient will survive an out of hospital cardiac arrest.

> Learn more about Citizen CPR


treating a child from a near-drowing Paramedic and Medical Services Officer (MSO) Tom Gudmestad examines a young patient suffering from a near-drowning.

Each Shift has an MSO that oversees the operation of all 6 medic units and responds on calls to assist paramedics on multiple patient incidents, such as major automobile accidents.


paramedics only respond to life-threatening injuries King County paramedics respond only to life threatning illnesses or critical injuries.

As a part of a tiered response system, medic units are dispatched based on the report received by the communications center. As an example a medic unit would not respond to a call for a broken arm in order to be available for a critical trauma patient like the one here that requires respiratory assistance.

> Learn more about the Tiered System


paramedics work in teams Paramedics in King County as a rule work in teams of two medics per unit.

But sometimes things get so busy that a team will split in order to respond to multiple incidents involving critically ill patients. King County Medic One works very closely with local fire departments as a part of the EMS system. paramedics work closely with firefighters to assist with patient care as pictured here.


treating a child from a near-drowing Paramedic Lee Frykolm has inserted a breathing tube into a critically ill patient's airway. There is no such thing as typical shift, so this scene may be repeated many times during the day.

treating a child from a near-drowing Paramedics Sylvia Feder and Carol Sandlin examine an elderly patient complaining of chest pain.
see also

Seattle Medic One Program
Seattle Fire Department's Medic One Program began in 1970 when the first group of firefighters were trained as Paramedics in cooperation with Harborview Medical Center and the University of Washington.

Enhanced 9-1-1 Dispatch Centers

Enhanced 911 is an automated system that uses the caller's telephone number to determine their location. Citizens of Seattle and King County have benefited from the Enhanced 911 system since 1985.

Disaster prep fact sheets

Are you prepared and know what to do to protect yourself and those around you during a disaster? Get the facts on protecting one's health against floods, power outages, sewage spills, carbon monoxide, and more.

Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) CISM logo

It is believed that emergency services workers deal with a stress response similar to that seen in war. The focus of CISM is to minimize the harmful affects of job stress, particularly in crisis or emergency situations.

Updated: Tuesday, May 29, 2007 at 11:18 AM

All information is general in nature and is not intended to be used as a substitute for appropriate professional advice. For more information please call 206-296-4600 (voice) or TTY Relay: 711. Mailing address: ATTN: Communications Team, Public Health - Seattle & King County, 401 5th Ave., Suite 1300, Seattle, WA 98104 or click here to email us. Because of confidentiality concerns, questions regarding client health issues cannot be responded to by e-mail. Click here for the Notice of Privacy Practices. For more information, contact the Public Health Privacy Office at 206-205-5975.

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