Run by your neighbors,
for your neighbors.
We have answered Virginia Beach's call since May 1, 1952, more than 70 years now. An all-volunteer 501(c)(3) inside the city's EMS system, free to the people we serve.
Neighbors saving neighbors.
As members of the all-volunteer Virginia Beach Rescue Squad, we dedicate our efforts to saving lives, delivering quality emergency medical services, and providing community education and safety.
We are your neighbors. Volunteers from across Virginia Beach train in life-saving skills and answer the call, at no cost to the people they help. We are an all-volunteer 501(c)(3), part of the Virginia Beach EMS system.
About 175 of us, operational and administrative, keep a rig on the road, ready for the next call. Teachers, students, retirees, and shift workers, all of us here because we decided to show up.
We carry the mission out by emphasizing four things: reliable service, quality training, cooperative alliances, and community awareness.
It began with an hour-long wait.
One cold December afternoon in 1951, a woman was struck by a car on Atlantic Avenue. Attorney J. Peter Holland III was at the scene and called for an ambulance. The fire department's ambulance was disabled, so he called the Fort Story Army post. Nearly an hour passed before an ambulance reached her and carried her to a hospital just three blocks away.
Holland decided Virginia Beach could not wait like that again. He gathered friends, and on May 1, 1952, twenty-two charter members founded the Princess Anne-Virginia Beach Rescue Squad. We have answered the call ever since.
Our members have worn white with pride since 1952. That is why the team photo above shows the squad in dress whites.
Three names, one system.
In an emergency, you call 911. VBVRS answers through the Virginia Beach EMS system, and you are never billed for our care. The city's Emergency Response System is police, fire, and rescue working together. Everyone is dispatched through 911, so a fire engine sometimes reaches you first, simply because it is closer. Here is how the three names you may see fit together.
The volunteer squad
That is us. The all-volunteer 501(c)(3) whose members staff the rigs, teach the free classes, and show up for their neighbors around the clock. This site is our home online.
Neighbors saving neighbors, for 70 years.The operational EMS system
The city's emergency medical services system. When you dial 911, this is what answers, and VBVRS crews respond within it.
Visit vbrescue.orgThe fundraising arm
The Foundation raises and stewards the gifts that buy equipment, supplies, and training.
How giving works
About 175 neighbors. 45,000+ hours a year.
About 175 volunteer members, operational and administrative, give more than 45,000 hours of community service every year. They are teachers, students, retirees, and shift workers who decided to be the person who shows up.
We serve in two ways. Operational members, from EMT to paramedic, train and certify like professionals. Support members give about 12 hours a month to office, facility, fund drive, and event work.
You do not need a medical background to join them. You need to care, and to show up. We handle the rest, including your training, at no cost to you.
My mother talks so warmly about the care you gave her in her time of need. Keep on sharing your gift; it does not go unnoticed.
A grateful patient's daughter, from the squad's current website
I have no doubt in my mind that the prompt, professional and caring service that I received from this group of dedicated people saved my life. We shall be forever grateful for your efforts.
Robert and Phyllis M., from the squad's current website
In the final build, every Squad Story published on the current site carries over, word for word, so the voices of the neighbors we have served are never lost.
Read Squad Stories on vbvrs.orgTwo stations, and who to reach.
The squad is led by Chief Richard Doub and a volunteer executive board. For anything that is not an emergency, our members are glad to hear from you. Please use Station 14 for official contact.
1243 Bayne Drive
Virginia Beach, VA 23454
Between them the two stations keep a fleet of ten ALS certified ambulances, two support vehicles, and two medically equipped response carts. Both also hold meeting space that nonprofit community groups can reserve.
We are an all-volunteer 501(c)(3), EIN 54-6047133. Our filings are public, and so are the Foundation's. Read them anytime.
Be the person who shows up.
You do not need a medical background. You need to care, and to show up. Everything else, we teach you, at no cost.