Imperial Ambulance celebrating its 60th anniversary
Imperial Ambulance is celebrating 60 years of serving the community.
In 1960 Charles Hargis and Myron Wilcox began Imperial Ambulance Inc. with a 1956 Cadillac and a 1958 Pontiac.
In 1962 Orville Lofton bought Hargis’ share of the business and added a funeral coach and limousine services. Back then the price for the ambulance service was around $80. Eventually only a CPR card and a permit to drive an ambulance were required to respond to a call. Even the owner’s children at the age of 14 pitched in to help.
In 1974 ambulance personnel were required to attend a 6-moth course to become an Emergency Medical Technician. So in 1974, Imperial Ambulance hired its first EMT. As the company continued to grow Imperial Ambulance took over the Lindsay Ambulance service in 1985.
Cindy Terrell began with the company part time in 1990 and became a full time employee in 1991. She’s still employed and is the longest serving employee of the company. Just 3 years later Trent Fiori came to work for Imperial. He was the youngest EMT II in Tulare county at age 19 and has worked for the company since 1993. He became a full time employees in 1994. Fiori is now Imperial Ambulance’s president.
As the company has continued to grow and serve the city of Porterville and surrounding areas in Tulare County Imperial now has its highest staffing in company history. There are currently 21 full time employees and 23 part time employees, with 16 fully operational ambulances.
Imperial Ambulance provides services in Porterville, Lindsay, Strathmore, Plainview, Poplar, Woodville, Terra Bella, Ducor, Springville, Camp Nelson, California Hot Springs, Sequoia Crest, Alpine Village, Pierpoint, Cedar Slope, Ponderosa, Balch Park, Bear Creek, Yohkohl Valley and Pine Flat.
As part of its service Imperial Ambulance offers all American Heart Association
courses taught at its location at 22 N. Cottage. Courses are limited to eight people but requests for larger classes can also be made.
CPR, Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Pediatric Advanced Life Support and first aid classes are offered. Classes can also be taught at home and work locations. CPR classes are also offered in Spanish.
The company is owned by Linda Robinson and Emily Thiroux, who were born and raised in Portervlle. The company also states its employees live and raise their families in the community as well and want to be good neghbors.
The company is involved in various community services, including giving safety and ambulance demonstrations at pre-schools.
“We give this extra service in the community because we believe in the community,” the company states on its website.
As it celebrates its 60th anniversary, the company stated, “Imperial Ambulance looks forward to celebrating many more years of serving the community and surrounding areas.”
For more information about Imperial Ambulance, call 784-8500 or visit https://www.imperialambulance.com/