Niels Tangherlini

Niels Tangherlini is the Chief Strategy Officer for Peak Response and has been a paramedic since 1990, first working in Oakland, California before being hired by the City and County of San Franciso in 1994. In 1997, the Paramedic Division of the San Francisco Department of Public Health merged with the San Francisco Fire Department and Mr. Tangherlini cross trained as a firefighter. Since that time, Mr. Tangherlini has served on ambulances, fire engines, and worked as a field paramedic captain. Mr. Tangherlini holds a bachelor’s degree in social welfare from University of California Berkeley and led the effort to start what is known as community paramedicine today. As a field paramedic captain, Mr. Tangherlini responded to many large-scale mass casualty incidents including a light rail vehicle crash with 70 patients and the 2014 Asiana air disaster with more than 200 patients.  During his tenure as Assistant Deputy Chief of EMS, Mr. Tangherlini turned his attention to the role technology can play in improving how EMS systems work. Mr. Tangherlini retired from the San Francisco Fire Department in June 2024.