King County voters ready to renew Medic One levy in the November 2025 general election, NPI Civic Heartbeat poll finds
Perhaps the least controversial thing on this year’s general election ballot in Washington State’s Martin Luther King Junior County could be King County Proposition 1, which would renew the countywide Medic One emergency medical services system for another six years. One of the county’s most loved public services, Medic One helps ensure that people experiencing a heart attack, stroke, or other health emergency have the best possible chance of being transported to a hospital to receive timely, lifesaving care.
Essential funding for Medic One comes from a voter-approved levy that goes back decades. The latest incarnation of this levy is now before voters, and our latest Civic Heartbeat poll suggests that an overwhelming majority of King County voters have either voted to renew the levy or plan to do so. 69% of 600 likely November voters surveyed for NPI by Emerson College Polling from October 22nd-27th, 2025 favor the levy, while a mere 16% were opposed. Another 15% were not sure.
While this finding is not predictive, it is still suggestive, and very reassuring.
If you’re new to King County and haven’t heard of Medic One before, here’s a primer on how it came to be from the Emergency Medical Services department:
Prior to the 1970s, there was no Medic One and there were no paramedics in King County. But two forward-thinking physicians (Dr. Michael Copass and Dr. Leonard Cobb), and the Seattle Fire Chief at the time (Gordon Vickery), had the idea that perhaps firefighters could be taught some of the same skills that doctors used to save people who were seriously injured or ill and could apply these skills in a person’s home or in the street where their accident occurred.
https://www.nwprogressive.org/weblog/2025/10/king-county-voters-ready-to-renew-medic-one-levy-in-the-november-2025-general-election-npi-civic-heartbeat-poll-finds.html