Burt Davis has been saving lives since 1981
Wendy Alexander/The Madera Tribune Burt Davis has worked for Pistoresi Ambulance for 35 years and is the longest-tenured employee. He works out of the Chowchilla branch.
Burt Davis’ career originally began in law enforcement, where he worked with the sheriff’s office as a reserve for a couple of years before latching on with Pistoresi Ambulance, a job he’s had for 35 years.
He then went through the police academy and got hired with the Chowchilla Police Department. He worked in law enforcement for 13 years, until 1981, when he and his wife decided it was time to start their family. The couple wanted to have more time for their family and did not want to have to rely on a babysitter so Davis’ wife stopped working outside the house and he started working two jobs.
When Davis was not working with the police department, he worked with Pistoresi Ambulance. He continued to both jobs until 1988, when he left law enforcement and went to Pistoresi full time. Davis has been working there ever since.
“Up until about 4-5 years ago, I worked out of my house,” he said. “It was good because I was able to coach my kids through every sport they ever played all the way through high school. Now that they are grown and, due to increase in call volume, I no longer work from my home, but from the fire station in Chowchilla.”
Davis says he takes pride in a job well done: “I love the satisfaction you get from when the patient was previously dealing with something life threatening but then you get a good outcome,” he said. “You do your job and you’re helping that person to survive the incident and be able to see another day. That’s definitely the best thing about the job. I enjoy working. I’ve done it a long time. I don’t know what I’d do if I wasn’t working. I can’t fish and hunt all the time.”
Davis’ work not only helps people to survive tragic incidents, but brings new lives into this world as well.
“I have delivered about 52 babies, which is something not too many paramedics want to do, but I enjoy being a part of the experience simply because you do very little in regards to the call itself, but you get quite a bit of recognition for being the catcher in the whole thing,” he said. “I love my job simply because there’s so much satisfaction on my part in doing what needs to be done and making a difference in the call.”
