Emergency Services Day (ESD) honors those who protect and support our City and Bay. The Honorees for the 2024 Emergency Services Day held on October 22, 2024 were: Deputy Patrick Dungo of the San Francisco Sheriff's Office; Emergency Medical Technician José Hernandez-Onofre and Paramedic Eric Soto of the San Francisco Fire Department; Officer Vincent Masilang of the San Francisco Police Department; and Boatswain's Mate First Class Chuck Baldwin of the United States Coast Guard. Each became a hero for either saving a human life or protecting our community.
This year's ESD drew Rotarians from our Club — the Rotary Club of San Francisco — AND from the Rotary Clubs of Belmont-Redwood Shores, Half Moon Bay, Menlo Park, Pacifica, San Francisco Chinatown, San Francisco Greater Mission, San Francisco South of Market, and across the ocean from Bologna-Felsineo in Italy. Our special guests were the Honorees mentioned above, their family members, and their command teams.
Rotary Club of San Francisco President Bob Hermann began the Program with a brief presentation on the impact of Rotary worldwide. He then introduced Club Member Rick Harrell, who sang America the Beautiful.
Club Member and Past District Governor Laine Hendricks served as our Emcee. She introduced Deputy Patrick Dungo, Emergency Medical Technician José Hernandez-Onofre, Paramedic Eric Soto, Officer Vincent Masilang, and Boatswain's Mate First Class Chuck Baldwin. Before PDG Laine could share how each had served our community, San Francisco Mayor London Breed walked into the ESD Event and shared her story of how Rotary had made a difference in her life and how proud she was today to be the Mayor among these heroes. Mayor Breed presented each hero with a certificate of recognition.
- Deputy Dungo was celebrated for his quick action and relentless efforts using Narcan to revive three people unresponsive due to drug overdoses.
- Paramedic Soto and EMT Hernandez-Onofre performed CPR and used a rapid defibrillator to save a man suffering from a major heart attack.
- Officer Masilang's surveillance efforts led to the arrest of suspects and the end of an organized group of garage burglars; Officer Masilang also helped with the arrest of a convicted felon.
- BMI Baldwin significantly enhanced operations and coordination among various government bodies and first responders.
This Event took months to plan and execute. Many, many thanks to the Committee led by Club Members Nancy Graydon and PDG Eric Schmautz. The Committee members included Cecile Chiquette, Dan Davies, Dora Dye, PDG Laine Hendricks, Robert Hunter, Brian Lan, Mary Liu, John Mount, Maureen O'Shea, Scott Plakun, Anita Stangl, Lisa Stark, Paul Yep, and Frank Yoke. Gary Dales and Larry Booth helped Mary Liu at the Registration table.
New this year was an opportunity to sponsor our Heroes. Thank you to the following cash donors: Emily Borland Specifications, Inc., Tom Brunner, Nancy Graydon, Bob Hermann, Dan Joraanstad, Carrie Schucker, Cecile Chiquette, David Folk, Robert Hunter, Mary Liu (Realtor), and Frank Yoke. Our in-kind donors were: Five-Star Audiovisual, Inc., the Grand Hyatt, the Hilton, the Hotel Nikko, the Marriott Marquis, and the Westin St. Francis Hotel. Funding for ESD came from the San Francisco Rotary Foundation.
Held since 1987, ESD is usually the biggest signature event of the year for our Club. Plan to join us again next year.
See more photos here. Thank you to John Mount for being our photographer.