Elkhart Fire Department, Elkhart, Indiana

Vito Palumbo

Firefighter. Paramedic. Captain. Teacher.

Twenty-eight years answering the call for the people of Elkhart. Seven state paramedic championships. A generation of medics trained. One very hard August, and the comeback that followed.

Joined 1984 Station 3 Retired after 28 years
Vito Palumbo in a dry suit, checking his regulator before a dive team training exercise
28
Years of service with the Elkhart Fire Department, 1984 to 2012
7×
Indiana Governor's Cup Paramedic Competition champion
1992
Teaching CPR, ACLS and PALS to the next generation since
3
The station he called home

  1. The career

    A life in service

    May 1984

    Before the badge, he ran

    The first time The Elkhart Truth printed his name, he was 23 and finishing the Great Race 10K. The paper would print it 177 more times over the next 29 years.

    The Elkhart Truth, May 29, 1984, page 20

  2. October 16, 1984

    Two joining Fire Department

    The Board of Public Works and Safety approves two new firefighters, Mark Tucker and Vito Palumbo, and the Truth photographs them outside the Municipal Building. Both men were born on June 17, 1960, which made seniority a puzzle. The city decided it the simple way: Vito had turned his application in first.

    The Elkhart Truth, October 17, 1984, page 10, photo by Fred Flury

  3. 1992

    Becomes an EMS instructor

    He starts teaching CPR, Advanced Cardiac Life Support and Pediatric Advanced Life Support, and begins training young adults for careers in emergency medicine. He never stops. One favorite lesson, digital intubation, is drawn out on its own page.

  4. August 1993

    First Governor's Cup

    Lt. Vito Palumbo and paramedic Grant Roberts, partners for a year, go to Indianapolis for the state Governor's Cup Ambulance Competition. Teams are judged on simulated emergencies. In the final a driver has a severe allergic reaction to a bee sting. On August 28 the traveling trophy comes home to Elkhart for the first time, beating 43 other teams, and the Truth puts the three of them on the front page. Station 3 is home for both partners for most of their careers.

    Read the clippings The Elkhart Truth, August 29 and September 2, 1993, page 1

  5. September 27, 2007

    Six-time champs

    Now a captain, Vito and Lt. Grant Roberts win the Governor's Cup for the sixth time as a team, beating more than 20 teams. The preliminary scenario is a riding mower flipped onto its driver; the final is a man choking in a restaurant who then has a stroke. Fire Chief Richard Snell: "You've got two very, very quality paramedics. This shows their level of commitment."

    Read the clipping The Elkhart Truth, September 27, 2007, page 3

  6. October 27, 2007

    Taking the plunge

    The Truth's "Life in a Firehouse" series spends a day with the department's dive team at a pond on the south side of the city. Vito, in a 95-pound dry suit and a full-face mask with a radio, swims a compass course between buoys. The goal, the paper notes, is always the same: get in the water and make the recovery as fast as possible.

    Read the clipping The Elkhart Truth LIFE, October 27, 2007, page 39

  7. September 18, 2008

    Seven

    "We know we're not perfect and that's why we keep trying," Capt. Vito Palumbo tells the Truth the week of the finals, 24 years on the job and 41 years of experience between him and Grant. On September 18 they win the Governor's Cup for the seventh time. Nobody else in the state has a run like it.

    Read the clippings The Elkhart Truth, September 15 and October 1, 2008, page 3

  8. August 25, 2011

    The hardest call

    Outside Memorial Hospital in South Bend, at Navarre and Michigan Streets, Vito is struck by an SUV turning onto Michigan from Navarre. He is 51, a captain and the union representative for Local 338, with more than 25 years on the job, and in critical condition with a serious head injury. Within days his department has started collecting money for his family and his union is organizing a fund. Five days later he is stable and improving. Read the chapter.

    Read the clipping The Elkhart Truth, August 27, 2011, page 1 ABC57, August 26, 2011

  9. May 2012

    Twenty-eight years

    Nine months after the accident, still recovering from the brain injury, Vito is granted a disability retirement after 28 years with the Elkhart Fire Department. Chief Mike Compton tells the board he is out running every day. Sue Palumbo tells the Truth he is back to cooking and the yard work, and that his goal is to get stronger and sharper so he can do his job. The paper photographs the two of them training with their dog, Buddy, for the Sunburst 5K. He keeps teaching, as an EMS instructor and a substitute teacher for Elkhart Community Schools.

    Read the clipping The Elkhart Truth, May 14, 2012, page 1

Every page shown is the real Elkhart Truth. Dates marked "about" are inferred from the public record.

August 2011

The comeback

How the fire department became a family when one of its own was down.

On Thursday, August 25, 2011, Vito Palumbo was hit by an SUV at the corner of Navarre and Michigan Streets in South Bend, right outside Memorial Hospital. He was rushed inside in critical condition with severe head injuries.

The man in that bed had spent 27 years running toward other people's worst days. Now the Elkhart Fire Department ran toward his. Firefighters took up a collection for his family. The union began setting up a fund. Colleagues described him to reporters by his humor, his dedication, his athleticism and his ambition.

By August 30 his condition was stable and improving. Nine months later, running every day and back to cooking and the yard work, he was granted a disability retirement after 28 years of service, and he kept teaching.

Vito, you're above this. You're stronger than this.

Assistant Battalion Chief David Cushwa, Elkhart Fire Department, to ABC57

Everything that we would normally do in a family, we do here.

Chief Cushwa, on the department's response

ABC57 NewsAug 26 and Aug 30, 2011

Elkhart firefighter fights for his life after SUV accident

The two reports that followed the accident and the first signs of recovery.

Read the first report
Read the follow-up

Honors and credentials

What he earned

7×

Indiana Governor's Cup

Seven-time champion of the state paramedic competition with partner Grant Roberts, 1993 to 2008.

Captain

Lieutenant from 1993, captain by 2007, union representative for IAFF Local 338, and a licensed paramedic for the whole run.

Hazardous Materials Technician

Certified for the calls most people never hear about.

Dive team

Certified diver on the department's rescue and recovery dive team.

Teacher

Substitute teacher for Elkhart Community Schools after retiring from the department in 2012.

Voices

What people said

Known for his humor, dedication, athleticism and ambition.
How colleagues described him to ABC57, August 2011
He worked with me as my driver at Station 3.
Vito, remembering Patrick Bleiler, 2026
It's still exciting to compete and win.
Vito, after the sixth Governor's Cup, The Elkhart Truth, September 2007
They're just outstanding in what they've done. We're proud the first time they won, but when you won it the sixth time, there is a new standard being set.
Elkhart Fire Chief Richard Snell, The Elkhart Truth, September 2007
Their performance at the state competition is a direct reflection of how they serve residents in Elkhart.
Vito, paraphrased by The Elkhart Truth