San Juan Island EMS Welcomes New Assistant Chief of Operations and Training, T. J. Bishop

San Juan Island EMS would like to officially welcome our new Assistant Chief of Training and Operations, T. J. Bishop! We feel incredibly lucky to have Chief Bishop.

In his military career, he was an Infantry Squad leader, and served in the Special Forces and the Old Guard. He was also an SF Medical Sergeant and Chief Instructor in the US Army reserve.

In his civilian life, Chief Bishop has been a paramedic-firefighter since 1997. He has served as a Division Chief of EMS, as the course director of AHA Training, a Medical Services Officer, Tactical Paramedic with SWAT, ALS Training Coordinator, and Assistant Fire Chief of EMS and Safety. He’s worked in hospital districts, fire districts, and military units.

We are extremely grateful to have attracted a candidate of his caliber and are looking forward to his official start date on May 29th, 2022. EMS Administrator and Hospital District Superintendent, Nathan Butler, said, “each of our top three candidates were put through a full day of rigorous testing. T. J.’s testing day fell on the day of the Spring Street Fire; we had been up all night. He took the events in stride with professionalism and patience. From the moment he started his major trauma scenario, I realized we were probably going to hire him. I am so grateful he accepted.”

Please give a warm welcome to T. J. Bishop and his family, who will be moving from Long Beach, Washington!

San Juan County Public Hospital District #1 currently operates the Village at the Harbor and San Juan Island EMS. The District pays a large subsidy to support PeaceHealth Peace Island Medical Center.