EMT, dispatch vet celebrated for decades of work responding to disasters, fires, more

Gordon Anderson at his dispatch post Photo courtesy of AMR After years on the job Gordon Anderson one of San Diego County s most of experienced crisis response professionals enjoyed a retirement party in his honor Friday He went on his first ambulance call at with Ballard s Ambulance Facility according to a press release After two years with Ballard s he jumped in to Hartson s Ambulance Function one of American Clinical Response s predecessors because they offered him a -a-week raise Anderson stayed with the company for years He retired as the longest-tenured employee at AMR which has nearly employees nationwide According to the Chula Vista resident in his early days as an EMT he and his dispatcher would contact each other through a Mexican restaurant on El Cajon Boulevard if they had a poor radio connection The dispatcher would call the restaurant if they couldn t get through to Anderson who would be out driving around in an ambulance The restaurant would hang a red flag in the window for Anderson to see Then you would stop and make a phone call Anderson declared Gordon Anderson seated at his retirement banquet at the VFW in La Mesa Friday July Photo by James Miller Times of San Diego He has seen it all He responded to the Laguna Fire and the PSA plane crash in North Park which was the deadliest aviation accident in US history at the time As a dispatcher from AMR s communication s center in Kearny Mesa later in his career Anderson helped direct first responders to other calamities including the Witch Creek Fire According to AMR s Vice President for Operations Mike Rice Anderson has been an exemplar for EMTs providing holistic care in perilous situations Your demeanor and your approach beyond just the clinical care is really impactful to people Rice noted at the retirement party at the VFW in La Mesa And I think he had the ability to really highlight that as a component of what we do and why it s critical Mike Rice left and Gordon Anderson Photo courtesy of AMR Rice commented Anderson s passion kept him going You don t stay in an industry like this for years unless you really care about what you re doing he noted Anderson tells new EMTs that they re never going to save a life without the wisdom of more experienced urgency response professionals It s unfailingly going to be the people before you listen to them listen to their stories he reported Listen to who they are and learn from them Anderson stated a robustness exigency forced him to retire but that it was his satisfaction with his work which kept him going for years He has four children a grandson eight granddaughters and four great-grandchildren And I m looking for more he commented