SDPD officers have been saving lives since day one. Unfortunately, so little of it has been documented this 1967 news article implies the police department had just recently began a police ambulance service. The reality is SDPD had been managing a police ambulance system as far back as the early 1900's.

Those ambulances were often the first responders to life and death calls and the skill of the chauffer and the police surgeon often determined who lived or died.