BRATTLEBORO, VT—Rescue Inc. will host a community open house and barbecue on Sunday, June 22, 2014 from 11am to 2pm at Rescue Inc.’s headquarters (541 Canal Street) to celebrate nearly 50 years of serving 15 towns in Southeast Vermont and Southwest New Hampshire.
“This is a great time to get to know your emergency first responders up close and personal and see what it takes to be an emergency medical technician or paramedic,” says Drew Hazelton, chief of operations. There will be a variety of Tech Rescue demonstrations, a hi line for folks to ride, bounce house for the kids along with a coloring book station, as well as tours of the ambulances and Rescue’s headquarters. Free blood pressure checks and hands only CPR will also be available.
A large oversized photo wall showcasing Rescue’s history and its people will be unveiled as part of the festivities. Many alumni of Rescue Inc. are also expected to attend.
Rescue Inc. is a community based, full service, independent non-profit agency dedicated to providing emergency medical care and transportation, specialized rescue services, transfer of patients between hospitals for specialized care, injury prevention, and community based training on a daily basis. It continually strives to improve access to care, particularly for the vulnerable populations it services.
Rescue Inc. was founded in 1966, initially as an all-volunteer service with first responders who had experience from Ski Patrol and military service. In the 1970s it offered EMT courses that were among the first in Vermont, and began to hire its first paid staff members. In the 1980s as the work began to require more technical expertise and volunteers became harder to attract, more paid professionals were added to the staff. In the early 1990s Rescue Inc. placed into service the first semi-automatic defibrillator unit in the state, and launched community outreach programs including CPR and first aid training for the public. In 2005, Grace Cottage Hospital ended its own ambulance service and Rescue Inc. assumed responsibility for emergency medical response in the Townshend area with its Division II.
Rescue provides town wide or apportioned services to Brattleboro, Putney, Brookline, Chesterfield, NH, Dummerston, Guilford, Halifax, Hinsdale, NH, Jamaica, Newfane, Wardsboro, Townshend, Stratton, Halifax and Vernon.
The Open House event will take place rain or shine. For more information, please call 802-257-7679 or go to www.rescueinc.org.
###
Contact: Lynn Barrett, prime@svcable.net
50 years!
I had a chance to sit in on some Rescue mtgs earlier this year and was really impressed with how they are making big efforts to improve their services and tighten up the organization after a few rough years.
Drew seems smart and passionate about the emergency services business, and has done a great deal to make sure the organization is operating well.
One of the things I like about Rescue, of course, is that they are a local organization. Without them, national chain ambulance services would move in, charge more, and do less. When Rescue shows up, its your neighbors. It adds value that might be hard to quantify on paper.
I’ve also been able to watch them in action with a late night visit to our neighborhood last year. They were quiet, kept the lights to a minimum, and helped a neighbor get to the hospital at 1 am, barely making a sound. Much appreciated!