Lynchburg Life Saving Crew

Contact:  Kristin Morgan, President

Phone: 904-445-0976

The Lynchburg Life Saving & First Aid Crew, Inc. is happy to announce that we have awarded a scholarship to Brandon Woolridge from Goode, Virginia.  Brandon is a student at Central Virginia Community College in the EMT program and is also in the Athletic Trainer Program at the University of Lynchburg. Congratulations to Brandon!!!

Our scholarships are made possible by gifts from people like you.  Thank you for your support!  The LLSC is a 501c3 non-profit agency.

Contact: Kristin Morgan, President - Lynchburg Life Saving & First Aid Crew, Inc.

E-Mail: kmorgan@rescue9.org

Phone: (904) 445-0976

President Kristin Morgan has announced the return of the LLSC Educational Scholarship Grants for 2019.  A flyer with information about the award eligibility and process as well as an application have been posted to the www.rescue9.org website.  Applicants are encouraged to review this material carefully and apply for a grant, which will range from $500-$1000. 

The LLSC was forced to suspend our scholarships while we fought a lawsuit against the City of Lynchburg over the past two years.  That case was decided in our favor but we were forced to spend money on legal fees defending our rights, instead of scholarships.  Now that we have successfuly defended our rights, we are able to reinstate our program once again.

For Immediate Release: 1/28/2014

Contact:  Kristin Morgan, President - Lynchburg Life Saving & First Aid Crew, Inc.

            E-mail address: kmorgan@rescue9.org

            Phone: (904) 445-0976

Lynchburg Life Saving Crew Announces New CPR/AED Training & Scholarship Assistance Program

The Lynchburg Life Saving and First Aid Crew was established in March of 1934 to meet the safety and first aid needs of our community.  For 80 years, hundreds of volunteers have served and sacrificed (some paying the ultimate sacrifice), to meet this need.   The needs of the citizens of Lynchburg have changed over the years and the volunteers have repeatedly changed their mission to best serve the community.   

With the recent decision by the City of Lynchburg to remove the Life Saving Crew from the Emergency 911 dispatch system, the membership and Board members were forced to once again examine the ways that we serve the community. 

The Lynchburg Life Saving Crew continues to host local service organizations and the Lynchburg Sea Cadets in their Headquarters building on Memorial Ave.  The Crew has also ramped up their offerings of CPR & First Aid classes to the community in an effort to expand the public use of these lifesaving skills.  LLSC members will be offering CPR/AED courses for both laypersons and Healthcare Providers several times a month.  In addition to these courses, the LLSC will offer a CPR/AED class for laypersons every 2^nd Saturday of every month at 10:00 a.m. at their headquarters building.  “This standard day time class will make it easier for individuals, retirees, healthcare workers and others to get certified or recertified.  This is something that Lynchburg has needed for a long time”, said Jamie Garza, Training Coordinator and Board Member. 

“This new training focus allows healthcare providers, doctor’s office staff, EMT’s and Nurses to take advantage of hard to find CPR/AED recertification classes to keep themselves current”, said Emily Evans, Certified CPR Trainer and Board Member.

Training is not the only focus of the LLSC these days.  The Crew has figured out another way to give back to the community that it has served with distinction for almost eight decades.  The LLSC is proud to announce an ambitious scholarship program that will serve deserving students who are involved in health related educational programs.  The Board will make annual gifts ranging from $500 - $3,000 for students to apply towards tuition, books or fees.  The Board will also consider grants to entities who want to increase public access to Automated External Defibrillators (AED’s).

Vice President, J. Robert Driskill said, “This program is another way of continuing our legacy in this community.  We want to make sure that we are doing our part to further the mission of this organization and honor our commitment to serving the citizens.  This program provides support in a very valuable area.”  Members of the board are proud to continue a tradition of offering our services to the community.  “When the City pulled our 911 response, we knew that our volunteers would not sit around and do nothing while their skills were wasted.  Our members have rallied once again and proved that the spirit of this squad, and our volunteers runs deep.  We are excited to host regional training and certification classes, provide meeting space to local service organizations, and continue our invaluable lifesaving services to the citizens of Lynchburg”, said former Chief and current Board President Kristin Morgan.  

The renewed mission will allow the Lynchburg Life Saving Crew to keep their 501c3 non-profit status, allowing them to take tax deductible donations to support these educational programs.   

For more information, please see our website at www.rescue9.org and click on “Training” or “Scholarship Programs” or “Donate” to register for an upcoming class or to support the Crew’s scholarship fund.

 ________________________________

A glimpse into our History:

Rescue Squads got their start in Virginia.  The Lynchburg Life Saving Crew remains as one of the oldest all volunteer crews in the Country.  The role of this agency has changed and adapted over the years as the needs of the community have required.

In 2002, the City Manager, City Council, Officers of the Life Saving Crew and members of the Lynchburg Fire Department met to discuss the need for additional E911 response in the City.   They asked that the Crew take on this additional service and fill the need for the City.   A formal integration agreement was drafted and put into effect at that time. 

For the Crew, it was a major transition from serving as predominately a rescue agency to that of an Ambulance/E911 response agency.  The Crew, through their own funding and generous support of community members purchased their second Ambulance.  In addition to purchasing the equipment necessary to stock the ambulance, members agreed to follow minimum staffing requirements that were dictated by the City.  The agreement also called for the LLSC to train its membership beyond the Commonwealth of Virginia accepted EMT-B level, to the standard of Advanced Life Support (EMT-I or EMT-P).  Volunteers needed to make a significant commitment of time and resources to be trained at this level, which was a challenge for those who had full time jobs and families.  Those who were trained as ALS providers were hired away by the hospital, county agencies or the Lynchburg Fire Department, depleting membership numbers even further and making it impossible to keep ALS medic units in service.  In the end, the cycle became an expense for the volunteer agency who trained these individuals and a benefit to the agencies who hired them away.  The Crew continued to run regular medical calls for the City and staff ambulances during special events and in times when the system was overwhelmed with calls for service.  In the spirit of integration, the LLSC also loaned their vehicles to the Fire Department when they needed additional equipment or replacements for their own fleet.

In December of 2012, the City of Lynchburg and the Lynchburg Fire Department suddenly and unilaterally pulled the LLSC out of the 911 dispatch system, leaving the volunteers out of the City’s Emergency Response Plan and the City without a revenue stream.  As part of the integration agreement, the City retained 100% of the revenue generated by the calls that LLSC provided emergency services.

More History is available on our website:  www.rescue9.org

NEWS RELEASE: Lynchburg Life Saving & First Aid Crew, Inc.

For Immediate Release: 11/17/12

Contact: Joyce Sachs, President - Lynchburg Life Saving & First Aid Crew, Inc.

E-mail address: joycesachs2@aol.com

The Lynchburg Life Saving and First Aid Crew was established in March of 1934 to meet the safety and first aid needs of our community. For 78 years, hundreds of volunteers have served and sacrificed (some paying the ultimate sacrifice), to meet this need. The needs of the citizens of Lynchburg have changed over the years and the volunteers have repeatedly changed their mission to best serve the community.

Unfortunately the number of volunteers who are willing to serve in this role has continued to decline over the last ten years. The downturn in the economy has also taken its toll on our volunteers, as many have had to take on a second job or go back to school. The LLSC has struggled to maintain ambulance crews and has endeavored to continue its emergency operations solely upon the financial support of individual donors. As of July 1, 2012 this financial struggle became more difficult as the Lynchburg City Council withdrew all "four for life" state funding and discontinued the long-held practice of providing a fuel budget to the Crew. Even as this important funding was withdrawn, the City of Lynchburg and the Lynchburg Fire Department has continued to bill patients and collect the revenue associated with any medical transports that were performed by the volunteers, in squad owned ambulances.

In a meeting with the Chief of the Fire Department, Brad Ferguson last week, the Lynchburg Life Saving and First Aid Crew Board President and Vice President were informed that as of December 31, 2012, the volunteer squad would be removed from the E911 response system, effectively ending their ability to respond to medical calls within the city limits. This action was taken despite the fact that the LLSC (a 501c3 non-profit agency) continues to serve the community, as they are able, while taking no taxpayer monies, and the City continues to bill for LLSC’s transport services.

Despite guarantees that information about this decision would not be shared until the LLSC Board leaders had a chance to confer with those who would be affected, the information was disseminated within the Fire Department administration and quickly shared within the paid and volunteer services in Lynchburg and the surrounding counties. "Unfortunately, we were forced to bypass our normal organizational channels today, as it became apparent that the City’s decision had become public knowledge." said Board President Joyce Sachs.

When told of this decision today, former LLSC Chief Grant Azdell said, "This decision makes no sense. What could the City possibly gain from seeing this agency dissolved? What happens when Lynchburg has the next natural disaster or catastrophic event and there are no trained volunteers to assist?"

The Lynchburg Life Saving Crew membership will likely take yet another hit as 911 response is removed from them in the new year. "Volunteers won’t volunteer to sit around and watch paid firefighters respond to emergency calls, while their skills are wasted", said former LLSC Chief Kristin Morgan.

While the Board of Trustees and members of the Lynchburg Life Saving Crew feel that this decision was arbitrary and unnecessary, we have no alternative but to accept that we will no longer be called upon to serve. With this in mind, the Lynchburg Life Saving & First Aid Crew will be focusing on the only part of our mission that remains intact, serving as a non-profit foundation to support Emergency Medical Technician training and community-based CPR training out of its current location on Memorial Ave. We hope that the citizens of Lynchburg will continue to support our foundation, even as they have supported our emergency operations for the last 78 years! To all who have supported us, we say Thank You!

Many of the Life Saving Crew volunteers have gone on to become paid Firefighters or EMT’s in the surrounding Counties or for the City of Lynchburg Fire Department.

To the hundreds of volunteers who have served this community for almost eight decades, we say thank you for your dedication.