Medic 5, 13, and 4 at Valley Medical Center

Serving south King County since 1977, King County Medic One is one of the largest providers of advanced life support and paramedic transport services in King County.  As a third-service EMS agency, all funding comes from public sources, in our case by Proposition One, the King County Medic One/EMS Levy, which is voted on by the citizens of King County every 6 years.

As the sole paramedic provider covering the communities of North Highline, Burien, Tukwila, SeaTac, Des Moines, Federal Way, Auburn, Enumclaw, Kent, Covington, Maple Valley, Black Diamond, Renton, Skyway and all unincorporated parts of the county in that area KCM1 provides services to approximately 750,000 people and an area more than a third the size of the entire county.

The department is currently staffed by 81 Paramedics and Paramedic Supervisors (MSOs) who operate 9 paramedic units in southern King County, as well as fill several administrative and supervisory positions.  We also have seven non-paramedic personnel who provide support to our daily operations. Our Medical Program Director, Dr. Peter Kudenchuk, is an interventional cardiologist with the University of Washington.

Before providing care to the public, all of our paramedics are required to attend the University of Washington’s Paramedic Training Program, based out of Harborview Medical Center.  This program is 10 months in duration and students complete over 2,500 hours of intensive clinical and field training.  After successful completion, every KCM1 paramedic completes a full year of probationary evaluations, including on-going training, supervision by a field training officer, and medical review by the medical program director as they learn to best provide medical care to the public.

Prior to employment with KCM1, all potential employees are required to have at least two years of EMT, EMT-I, AEMT, or Paramedic level certification. In fact, almost half of all KCM1 paramedics also have previous experience as paramedics in other EMS agencies, and a number are experienced nurses as well.