We will be presenting various posts this week in honor of National EMS Week.

In 1972, members of the East Whiteland Fire Company were being certified in First Aid by Mr. Lee Broomall of the Malvern Fire Company Ambulance Service at the American Red Cross in Berwyn, Pa. The driver of an ambulance was required to have basic First Aid certification, while the attendant taking care of the patient was required to have advanced First Aid certification. Most of the ambulance vehicles were either Cadillac or Pontiac with very limited space for patient care, and the priority was to transport the patient as fast as possible to the nearest hospital. At the same time, a national television show entitled "Emergency" was portraying the daily events of two Los Angeles Firefighters training to become Paramedics. The pilot episode of the television show referred to the Wedsworth-Townsend Act, which was signed into California law by then Governor Ronald Reagan on July 14, 1970. It was also the first attempt for the East Whiteland Fire Company to start an ambulance service, but after two years it was decided that the community wasn't quite ready. It took a few years before Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT's) and Paramedics were being trained nationwide. The East Whiteland Fire Company would have an ambulance some years later, but the process was long and difficult.