American Medical Response hosted a special event Friday for its longest-serving employee, El Cajon-native Gordon Anderson, who has been with the company for 55 years.
Anderson grew up in El Cajon, graduated from El Cajon Valley High School and has lived his adult life in the South Bay area of San Diego County. He joined AMR, Hartson’s Ambulance then, on April 5, 1969, where he worked as an ambulance driver.
“EMTs and paramedics hadn’t been invented yet,” Anderson told NBC 7, with a laugh and a grin, as he reflected on the early years of his career. But when the roles were created, Anderson became one of the very first licensed EMTs in the county.
“It was not because of the lights and the sirens,” Anderson said. “It was because of the interaction with the people that we were able to take care of.”
Over his career, Anderson has responded to some of the county’s …