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‘Father’ of paramedic service in Chicago suburbs dies at 81

Dr. Stanley M. Zydlo, introduced the idea of training firefighters to be paramedics in the early 1970s and founded the first emergency medical system in Illinois

Daily Herald

CHICAGO — Dr. Stanley M. Zydlo, who in the face of skepticism introduced the idea of training firefighters to be paramedics in the early 1970s -- a system now credited with saving untold lives -- died Wednesday night at age 81.

The Inverness doctor, considered the “father” of paramedic service in the Northwest suburbs and founder of the first emergency medical system in Illinois, died at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights.

“He was a saint, quite frankly,” Schaumburg Mayor Al Larson said Thursday.

Read full story: Dr. Stanley Zydlo, ‘father’ of paramedic service in suburbs and country, dies