Sarah Sedwick
Intern
“Ut Prosim. That I May Serve.” This is the mantra members of the Virginia Tech Rescue Squad aim to embody each time the Blacksburg community or Virginia Tech campus needs a helping hand.
Since 1969, Virginia Tech Rescue Squad, the oldest collegiate volunteer rescue squad in the country, has been a vital element of the Virginia Tech campus.
The student-run squad consists of six emergency vehicles – three ambulances two response vehicles and a multi-terrain vehicle which are used in response to calls on the campus and occasionally those in the surrounding Blacksburg area.
Another asset the squad possesses are first-aid bikes, which are used during large events to aid individuals in quicker time than a vehicle would take to get to the scene.
“Virginia Tech and Blacksburg Rescue Squads have a mutual aid agreement with each other,” said Julia Nguyen, Public Outreach Lieutenant for the Virginia Tech Rescue Squad. “If Blacksburg needs any aid, services provided or additional trucks, they’ll mutual aid us and we’ll be able to help them and vice versa.”
Along with their quick response times, Virginia Tech Rescue Squad ensures that each member completes extensive Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) training. If members decide to further their medical training, the squad provides optional additional classes to be advanced providers or paramedics. This allows the trained advanced providers to give additional medications and IV’s to those in need.
“We do a lot of training,” said Nguyen. “We pull 20-30 hours of duty a week and our officers pull around 30-40 hours. We are full time students so it’s very unique.”
Since members of the Virginia Tech Rescue Squad are extensively trained, they want to share their knowledge with the community.
The squad teaches free classes to the public, which include CPR, AED and First-Aid and Vitals sessions. The Virginia Tech Rescue Squad also partners with the Office of Emergency Management to teach “Stop the Bleed” classes which demonstrate the correct procedures to package wounds to participants.
“We want students and community to know that we teach all these free classes, unlike other departments on campus that charge for classes,” Nguyen said. “We want to give the community the tools to possibly save a life or just be more knowledgeable on certain medical topics.”
Each year the squad celebrates another successful term by hosting a banquet in which a number of squad alumni, who have made a very significant impact on the Virginia Tech Rescue Squad will be elected “Life Members.”
However, this April will mark the most important event so far for the Virginia Tech Rescue Squad – their 50th anniversary.
“This is the largest event that we will probably ever see,” said Nguyen. “It’s a big celebration and we are expecting around 300 people to be present for this event.”
The Virginia Tech Rescue Squad not only assists the Virginia Tech campus in its times of need, but also aids the Blacksburg community. However, where ever the call of service takes the members of the squad, their dedication to “Ut Prosim” will follow.
