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2012 SPECIAL SESSION I


HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 590
Commending the Virginia Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, May 14, 2012

 

WHEREAS, the Virginia Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad proudly celebrates 60 years of exemplary service to area residents in 2012; and

WHEREAS, the Virginia Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad traces its origins to a cold December afternoon in 1951, when a woman was struck by a car near the corner of 24th Street and Atlantic Avenue; and

WHEREAS, a local attorney at the scene, J. Peter Holland III, called for an ambulance, but the fire department’s ambulance was disabled and Fort Story was hesitant to send an ambulance for a non-military person; and

WHEREAS, finally, nearly one hour after Peter Holland’s initial call, an ambulance from Fort Story arrived to transport the woman three blocks to Virginia Beach General Hospital; and

WHEREAS, Peter Holland recognized the urgent need for an active volunteer ambulance service to serve the population of Virginia Beach, which at that time numbered 10,000; and

WHEREAS, Peter Holland worked with other community leaders and friends to establish Princess Anne-Virginia Beach Rescue Squad, Inc., on May 1, 1952, with 22 charter members and one associate; and

WHEREAS, Princess Anne-Virginia Beach Rescue Squad began serving the local community from three donated metal buildings and with a Cadillac ambulance purchased for $1; and

WHEREAS, in 1957 Princess Anne-Virginia Beach Rescue Squad built a new station at 408 20th Street to better serve area residents; and

WHEREAS, in 1963 the City of Virginia Beach and Princess Anne County merged, resulting in an increased demand for emergency medical services, and the squad changed its name to the Virginia Beach Rescue Squad, Inc.; and

WHEREAS, in 1972 the Virginia Beach Rescue Squad began to recruit women and also gained national attention when it became the first volunteer rescue squad to have a successful conversion of a patient in cardiac arrest; and

WHEREAS, in 1986 the Virginia Beach Rescue Squad changed its name to the Virginia Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad, Inc., to further identify itself as an all-volunteer rescue squad; two years later, it launched its first volunteer recruitment campaign, which proved to be a great success; and

WHEREAS, in 1995 the Virginia Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad broke ground on a new, advanced Station 14 facility as members continued to pursue the latest in emergency medical services training to better serve the community; and

WHEREAS, in 2006 a Virginia Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad EMT team won the International Rescue and Emergency Care Association competition—the only volunteer team competing in the event; and

WHEREAS, in 2008 a sister station, Station 8, was built to better respond to the growing Great Neck/Alanton/First Colonial area of the city; and

WHEREAS, the Virginia Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad, with more than 200 members, two stations, and eight advanced-life-support ambulances, answered over 13,000 calls in 2011, approximately one-third of all the calls in the city; and

WHEREAS, today, the Virginia Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad continues to be known by its white uniforms and takes great pride in continuing to serve and educate Virginia Beach residents and visitors; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, That the Virginia Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad hereby be commended on the occasion of its 60th anniversary; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the Virginia Beach Volunteer Rescue Squad as an expression of the House of Delegates’ congratulations and appreciation for the squad’s outstanding service to the residents of Virginia Beach.