Harrisonburg Rescue Squad Makes New Addition to Fleet in 2015
Harrisonburg, VA (PRWEB) January 06, 2015 -- The Harrisonburg Rescue Squad (HRS) has added a Duty Officer Special Emergency Response Vehicle (SERV) to its fleet in 2015, optimizing the resources available during both routine and extraordinary incidents. HRS’s Duty Officer vehicle fulfills many roles, including a response vehicle for Advanced Life Support (ALS) calls, command and/or triage at mass casualty incidents (MCIs), as well as housing and delivering some of the agency’s specialized equipment. The vehicle is used by the agency’s shift supervisor, also known as the Duty Officer (DO).
HRS had a growing need for a vehicle with more room for specialized equipment. This equipment will be used to help coordinate EMS response during large-scale incidents, for triage during incidents with multiple patients, and for calls with unusual circumstances. The new vehicle provides more room for these tools through a customized cabinet layout that was both designed and built by HRS’s Fleet Maintenance Officers and President, saving HRS two to three thousand dollars between building and installation. Lantz Custom Woodworking generously provided machine and shop time for the project at no cost.
The new DO SERV is a 2015 Chevrolet Suburban that was locally purchased from Joe Bowman Chevrolet and locally outfitted by Commonwealth Rescue Systems. It has improved side and forward lighting for better scene visibility and a low-frequency siren that can be better heard in other vehicles. Both of these new features will improve safety for the community during emergency response and for personnel on scene during incidents.
With the new vehicle in service, the previous DO SERV will now be re-purposed as an additional ALS response vehicle and provide an additional way for members to respond to emergencies while away from the station. This is particularly helpful given that HRS frequently responds to multiple calls at once, and both will increase the agency’s staffing and decrease response times.
About Harrisonburg Rescue Squad:
Harrisonburg Rescue Squad (HRS, also known as Rescue 40) is an all-volunteer EMS agency that provides service to Harrisonburg and parts of Rockingham County. HRS owns and maintains a full fleet of ambulances, response vehicles, a Heavy Rescue Vehicle and a Mass Casualty Incident Response Unit. HRS offers new member training, emergency driving certification, and many other EMS courses. Rescue 40 has over 160 active volunteer members and responds to approximately 8,000 calls-for-service per year. The volunteers take pride in the ability to provide extensive life-saving services to the local community.
Michael Roper, Harrisonburg Rescue Squad, http://www.rescue40.org, +1 (434) 953-6689, [email protected]
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