Dr. Leonard Cobb, Co-Founder of Seattle Fire Medic One Program, Passes Away

Dr. Leonard Cobb
Dr. Leonard Cobb (Courtesy photo)

Dr. Leonard Cobb, one of the founders of the Seattle Fire Medic One program, passed away on February 14.

The Seattle Fire Department and Harborview Medical Center issued the following statement on behalf of the Cobb family:

We are sad to announce the passing of Dr. Leonard Cobb, a luminary in the field of prehospital care for patients with cardiac disease. His achievements are many, but perhaps the most notable was helping establish in 1970 the Seattle Medic One paramedic program at Harborview Medical Center and a year later, the creation of bystander CPR training for nonmedical professionals. Both of these programs have earned worldwide acclaim and inspired fire and emergency medical service departments to follow in Seattle’s footsteps.

The Seattle Medic One program’s goal is to provide emergency care comparable to what a patient would receive by a trained physician onsite. In the late 1960s, Dr. Cobb, director of Cardiology at Harborview Medical Center, took note of work being done in Europe with prehospital cardiac patients that was saving lives.

Constantly seeking to improve patient care, Dr. Cobb focused on resuscitation from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest. With then-Fire Chief Vickery in 1969, Cobb developed a local program where specially trained firefighters were trained as paramedics and dispatched to provide cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), use a defibrillator to restore a normal heart rhythm, and give intravenous medications to stabilize the patient in preparation for safe transport to the hospital.

Dr. Cobb, Fire Chief Vickery and Seattle Rotary #4 launched Seattle Medic Two in 1971 to train community members in CPR. In a 2020 interview, Dr. Cobb said, “This was, perhaps, our most important contribution” to establishing Seattle as a leader in out-of-hospital resuscitation. To date, the Seattle Fire’s Medic Two program has trained more than 1 million people in CPR.

After handing off the medical direction of the Medic One program to Dr. Michael Copass in 1993, Dr. Cobb continued to be actively involved in clinical research. He worked to ensure the ongoing excellence of Medic One paramedics until well into his 90s.

In 2008, Dr. Cobb helped to create the Resuscitation Academy. His teachings drew on 40 years of experience leading a high-functioning EMS program. His advice to attendees was timeless: The quality of patient care cannot be emphasized enough; there are no magic bullets; stick to quality CPR; and never stop measuring and improving your system.

As a result of Dr. Cobb’s leadership, Seattle’s EMS system is held up as one of the best in the world.

Dr. Cobb will undoubtedly remain in our memories, and his legacy will continue to live on through the thousands of lives his work continues to save each year. We will remain in his debt for his innovation, leadership and passion for saving lives.

The Seattle Fire Department and Harborview Medical Center express our condolences to the Cobb family and Dr. Cobb’s extended work family.

Read more on Dr. Cobb here.

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