President’s Award for
Customer Service
Jennifer Pratt, Paramedic

Jennifer Pratt is the recipient of this year’s coveted President’s Award for Customer Service. This award is given to the employee who best demonstrates their ability to provide quality customer service.  The winner is determined by taking the total number of perfect quality surveys and compliments and dividing by the number of completed calls.  Pratt’s score was double the average score.  Customer service is the foundation upon which Hall Ambulance was built.

Paramedic of the Year
Danny Caverhill, Paramedic

Danny Caverhill has been selected as the Paramedic of the Year.  The Paramedic of the year, like the EMT, is selected after nominations by Field Supervisors. The nominees are then put through the ringer and evaluated for customer service, attendance, QA scores, Dry Run Rates, and Road Safety Scores.
Caverhill started his EMS career with another company. The decision to leave that employer and join the Hall Ambulance team was difficult, yet in March of 2007 he did just that. He quickly demonstrated to his Supervisors his maturity and professionalism and was made a Preceptor.
In 2009 he completed numerous training assignments and can be counted on to provide a quality training experience.
Also in 2009 he was invited to participate in the new ambulance design project. He provided many suggestions that were incorporated into the new design.
He had perfect attendance in 2009. Several months ago he received a tremendous complement by his Supervisors when they recruited him to join them as a Relief Supervisor trainee and is currently in the process of completing that training.
His Supervisors describe him as hard working, humble and trouble free.              

EMT of the Year
Brian McChristian, EMT

Brian McChristian has received the honor of being named the EMT of the Year.  The EMT of the year is selected after nominations by Field Supervisors. Field Supervisors consider employee attitude, relations with peers, willingness to help resolve issues and other intangibles.
Attendance, Customer Service Scores, QA scores, Road Safety Scores, and Dry Run rates are then weighted to determine the winner.
McChristian started with Hall Ambulance in August of 2000. After several years in the Metro system he transferred to his current assignment in Mojave. He is one of the few EMT Preceptors in the East Kern and is counted on by Supervisors to assist with medical supply inventory for the East Kern and inspecting the backup fleet of ambulances for the East Kern daily. He missed just one shift this past year and routinely helps to cover open shifts.

Quality Assurance Report Card Straight A's
Steven Prater, Paramedic
Carrie Barnes, Paramedic

Each month each EMT and Paramedic is graded for the accuracy of their Paperwork and their compliance with treatment protocols. A report card is mailed to each employee monthly updating them on their efforts. More than 2400 report cards were sent out in 2009. They are graded with letter grades from A for perfect to F for failure. The standards are high. To achieve an A is no easy feat. In 2009 only two Paramedics achieved perfect scores for 12 months.  Congratulations to Paramedics Steve Prater and Carrie Barnes on accomplishing such a fete.  Prater joined Hall Ambulance in October 1991 and is currently serving as a Metro Paramedic Field Supervisor.  Barnes started her career in January 2002 and currently serves the Shafter area.

MTS Employee of the Year
Amanda Sanchez

Amanda Sanchez has been named the MTS Employee of the Year for 2009.  She began her employment on in 1989 as an MTS Driver.  Sanchez was selected as Employee of the Year because of her excellent attendance record with only 1.5 shifts missed for the year.  She has also assisted in training new employees to the standard that was set when she first started in 1989, also known as the “Hall Way of Doing Things”.  Sanchez constantly strives to meet the expectations of the company everyday on every call.  She also has an excellent time on task average with one of the lowest clearing times in the division.  On a regular basis Sanchez reminds her manager of how much she loves her job, the company, and how happy she is to come to work every day. 

Ambulance Division Support Employee of the Year
Scott Allen

Scott Allen has been named the Ambulance Division Support Employee of the Year.  Ambulance Division Support includes the behind the scenes work that takes place to keep the Division operating smoothly. This includes Scheduling, Quality Assurance, Medical Supply, and Training.
Allen has more than 30 years of service in EMS. He came to Hall Ambulance October 2006.
Allen was assigned to Scheduling—one of the most daunting and thankless tasks in support of EMTs and Paramedics. He has helped reorganize and streamline scheduling processes. His gift of gab was noted early in his employment making him an ideal fit for working with promoters to provide standby service at motorsports and concert events.
Allen’s talents then led to more workload as he was assigned the task of making contacts with customers who were not happy with our service. In many cases he has successfully taken a complaint and turned it into a compliment.
Allen is committed to volunteerism and has been active in many projects including the South Bakersfield Rotary and the Buddy Walk.

Dispatcher of the Year
Laura Swank

Laura Swank has been named the Emergency Medical Dispatcher of the Year.  Swank began her career with Hall Ambulance Service in 2000, working as an EMT working in the field.  After a couple of years she began to pursue her dispatching dream.  She currently is certified as an Advanced National Emergency Medical Dispatcher, Kern County Certified Emergency Medical Dispatcher and an Emergency Medical Technician.
 Swank earned the honor of EMD of the year because of her dedication towards her career.  Laura was an example setter while dealing with her thousands of requests for service.  She was able to remain above 99% compliant while performing her EMD skills throughout this year. This EMD compliance is outstanding. She maintains her EMT certificate to stay connected with patients and field crews.  This has an enormous benefit in maintaining both admiration and respect for all whom she encounters.
Our monthly Dispatcher of the Month Program was dominated by Mrs. Swank in the year of 2009.  This program is designed to reward employees who consistently demonstrate outstanding performance in attendance, availability, customer service, compliments, call processing times, EMD compliance, call volume and response time compliance. It is very noteworthy that Swank did not utilize any sick time for the entire year of 2009.  She is always there when you need her.  Her positive attitude can radiate throughout others around her.
This is not the first time Swank has held this distinction.  Swank was also Dispatcher of the Year 2006 and 2007.  It is uncommon to nominate the same person for this honor. 

Business Office Employee
of the Year
Dorothy McGee

Dorothy McGee has been selected as the Business Office Employee of the Year.  McGee began employment with Hall Ambulance Service in November 2004.
McGee comes to work each day with a smile and a great attitude that includes a greeting of “Good morning” to everyone she passes. She has had 100 % attendance since her employment here at Hall Ambulance Service.  She handles our contract and large accounts and does a great job.  She exemplifies professionalism and treats everyone with respect, works hard each and every day and is dedicated to the vision of our leader, Mr. Hall.

Finance Department's
Employee of the Year
Esther Silva

Esther Silva has been chosen as the Finance Department’s Employee of the Year.  She has been employed by Hall Ambulance since July 2003.  Silva has many and varied responsibilities that are spread over several departments.  She undertakes all projects enthusiastically and with an eye to detail.  In 2009, Hall Ambulance began offering the employees the option of a Pay Card instead of using direct deposit or receiving a “live” paycheck.  Silva has spent a great deal of time promoting the pay card program to the employees.  She has taken it upon herself to become completely familiar with the program and is willing to take the time with each employee who shows an interest to explain and sell the program.  She is really excited when an employee signs up for the pay card and will make sure she is available to guide the employee in the implementation of the pay card.  The success of the program can be credited to Silva.

Human Resource's
Employee of the Year
Anna Aguilera

Anna Aguilera has been named Human Resources Employee of the Year.  Hiring for the EMT Academy always takes “Herculean” efforts that need to be accomplished in a very short time frame.  During the last hiring process, the Human Resources Department reviewed over 380 applications, interviewed 81 candidates and completed the hiring process with 19 new students.

Aguilera really stepped up to help out during the last several EMT Academies and continues to do an outstanding job completing her own responsibilities in addition to the extra duties she takes on during “EMT Academy Recruitment” weeks.

Aguilera continues to excel at her job.  She always has a smile and presents a positive “face of Hall Ambulance Service”.

Maintenance Division's
Employee of the Year
Dennis McGee

Dennis McGee has the distinction of being named the Maintenance Employee of the Year.  Since his first day on the job in November 2005 McGee has been a rock solid employee. He has all the characteristics required to receive this well-deserved honor.  He has a great work ethic, is very reliable, keeps his manager informed, has a great rapport with his coworkers, and is always ready to work at his work station at 7:00 am sharp.
McGee’s value to Hall Ambulance increased over the past year as he continued to excel at his many off-site assignments.  Dennis is assigned an extensive amount of weekly tasks, more tasks than any other employee in the Maintenance Department.  In addition to detailing ambulances every morning, he must also perform afternoon weekly tasks at Rosedale, Q St, and Lamont.  He never complains, never has bad days—he is just 100% reliable, responsible, and trustworthy.  In 2009 McGee’s productivity was consistently higher than his coworkers in the Maintenance Dept.
This is McGee’s 2nd Employee of the Year honor in his 4 plus years of employment having also won in 2006.