Menlo Park Fire Protection District
Melanie Starz is an experienced EMS Manager with significant expertise in emergency medical services and education. Currently serving at Menlo Park Fire Protection District since April 2017, Melanie previously worked as a Paramedic Supervisor and Paramedic at American Medical Response from June 1994 to April 2017. Additionally, Melanie has held teaching roles, serving as an Adjunct Instructor for the SJCC EMT/EMR Program and a Skills Instructor for Foothill College's Paramedic Program. Melanie's background also includes working as a per-diem paramedic for COLMA FIRE PROTECTION DISTRICT from April 1998 to February 2015. Academic qualifications include a Master of Arts in Organizational Leadership from Brandman University and a Bachelor's degree in Emergency and Disaster Management from the American Public University System.
Menlo Park Fire Protection District
The District covers a 30 square mile area near Stanford University in the San Francisco Bay Area for the communities of Menlo Park, Atherton, East Palo Alto, sections of Stanford University and unincorporated parts of Southern San Mateo County serving a greater community of 93,000 residents. The District has seven stations that are strategically placed to provide the most efficient response times and responds to approximately 8,500 emergencies a year with about 60% of them being emergency medical incidents. The Fire Board oversees fire protection, policy, budget and staff related issues. The District is also the hosting agence for the California Task Force Three (CA-TF3) Urban Search and Rescue Team: This unit operates under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). As the sponsoring agency, the Menlo Park Fire Protection District has the responsibility of managing the team, preparing the group to respond to any incident within California or the United States. CA-TF3 is a specially trained and equipped 80 person Urban Search and Rescue Task Force consisting of 18 participating agencies and 60 civilians.