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Indiana Governor's Cup
Seven-time champion of the state paramedic competition with partner Grant Roberts, 1993 to 2008.
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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.
- Great Race 10K
- 60th of 530 runners
- 39:26
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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.
- Hired Oct. 16, 1984
- Born June 17, 1960
- Seniority: applied first
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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.
- CPR
- ACLS
- PALS
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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.
- Title 1 of 7
- Beat 43 teams
- Lt. Vito Palumbo
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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."
- Title 6 of 7
- Beat 20+ teams
- Station 3
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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.
- Dive team
- 95 to 100 lb of gear
- Full-face radio mask
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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.
- Title 7 of 7
- 15 years competing
- 41 years combined
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2012
Twenty-eight years
Vito retires from the Elkhart Fire Department in 2012 after 28 years: firefighter, paramedic, lieutenant, captain, union representative, and seven-time state champion. He never stops teaching, as an EMS instructor and as a substitute teacher for Elkhart Community Schools.
- 1984 to 2012
- Lieutenant by 1993
- Captain by 2007
Every page shown is the real Elkhart Truth. Dates marked "about" are inferred from the public record.