Danville Life Saving Crew

Looking back on the EMS system and the Danville Life Saving Crew

Back in the early 1900's ambulances were run out of funeral homes with little or no first aid. Speedy transportation to the hospital was the prime assistance that could be offered.

Late in 1944, fifteen men came together to form the Danville Life Saving Crew.

March to July 1945, the first Standard and Advanced First Aid Classes and Water Rescue Classes were held.

The First Dispatch System was coordinated in September of 1945, located at the Hotel Danville and Members were now ready to run Emergency Calls. At this time, calls were run on personal vehicles and in 1945, gas was $0.21/gallon.

In 1953 the first station wagon was purchased as a transport vehicle.

From 1960-1969, local car dealers loaned the crew two station wagons and one car per year for use on crew calls. The cars were then returned to the dealers at the end of each year and sold as demonstrator models.

In the 1960's, Members had to have standard and advanced First Aid to get into the crew.

May 10. 1968 – We built an Emergency Room on wheels in the back of a bread truck that was donated to the crew. Later, our first used ambulance was purchased form Clifton Forge Rescue Squad.

In 1970 two new carry all trucks were purchased and a Low Band V.H.F. radio was placed in the Danville Police Department and Hospital for dispatch communications.

On Feb. 6, 1972, EMT classes were started to offer an advance in training. As the classes were completed in November of 1972, the funeral homes were working towards the discontinuation of ambulance service.

In April, 1974 the first set of 'Jaws of Life' were donated to the Crew by Dan River Mills.

On Sept. 4, 1975 the first eleven Cardiac Tech s (CT's) completed the Advanced Cardiac Life Support training course and two new Advanced Life Support Units were purchased.

In September, 1975 the UHF Motorola Radio System was installed in the Crew units and a Telemetry System was installed at Danville Memorial Hospital. This technology allowed the Cardiac Tech in the field to transmit EKG's and talk to the physicians in the emergency room. The Crew purchased four portable radios at $1600 each and put new high band VHF radios on Crew member's cars.

In August of 1978 an old police car was equipped for use as 'Rescue 500', a Cardiac Tech Car, to help with response times. This was the first ALS response vehicle in the state of Virginia.

In March of 1979 the Danville Police Helicopter began to assist the crew on emergency calls in rough terrain rescue attempts.

In 1979 a tobacco company placed a recorder in the Memorial Hospital Emergency Room to record all radio information.

1979 was also noted as the first time the Danville Fire Department sent ALS assistance to an emergency call.

On August 1, 1983, the '9-1-1' system was installed at the Danville Police Department.

In 1985 the Vertical Rescue Team was started at the Danville Life Saving Crew.

In June, 1986 the Helipad was built at the crew hall eliminating EMS ground transports to Duke, Bowman Gray and other specialty hospitals, thus decreasing patient transport times.

In 1987 a Hot Line phone was installed on an outside wall at the crew hall for public use in reporting emergencies.

In February, 1990 cellular phones were used on a trial basis to communicate with E.O.R. and send EKG's to the hospital, though proved unsuccessful.

The first Paramedic class was completed in 1991 and the Danville Life Saving Crew's first National Registry Paramedics (NREMT-P) were certified.

On February 1, 1993, a new First Responder program was coordinated with the City Fire Department including a new communication program which allowed firemen to respond to calls as First Responders prior to EMS arrival.

September 23, 1994 a county boundary line was proposed and passed by the crew to assist in improving response times of the Fire Department First Responders and other area crews. This noted the first time that boundary lines of the crew's service area was acknowledged in writing.

In September, 1995, the DLSC covered the largest land area of any rescue squad, covering the City of Danville and parts of Pittsylvania County totaling 293 square miles of territory and answering the second highest volume of emergency calls per year.

In April, 1997, Pittsylvania County C-Com radios were installed on crew units for coverage of county areas.

Cellular phones were installed on all crew units on July 14, 1997.

In October, 1997, the Police Department Dispatch would be acknowledged as EOC (Emergency Operations Communications).

On February 9, 1998 a Mutual Aid agreement was formed between the DLSC and Van's Med Tech to cover delayed calls to medical facilities.

On October 17, 1998 a transport unit was placed at a Northside station in North Danville to decrease response times in that area as crew members could respond from their residences near the area rather than coming into Danville to get a transport vehicle before responding to emergency situations.

On May 3, 1999 a Priority Dispatch system was initiated to assure emergency calls dispatched to the DLSC and non-emergent calls being dispatched to support agencies.

On February 13, 2001 a Westside station housed a transport unit at Bachelor Hall's Fire Department to assist in decreasing response times to that area.

On January 13, 2003 a new Virginia State Mandate for reconstructing the EMS certifications from the original designations of EMT-A (Emergency Medical Technician), Shock Trauma, CT (Cardiac Tech) and Paramedics to a new combination of EMS personnel. Recertification must be obtained by all EMS personnel within five years to the newly designated classes of EMT-B, EMT-Enhanced, EMT-Intermediate and EMT-Paramedic.

On July 28, 2003 a new Trauma Alert Protocol was initiated by the Danville Regional Medical Center. Per the new protocol, EMS personnel would notify the Emergency Department of the severity of a trauma as classed as a 'Gold' or 'Red' Trauma Alert, allowing the emergency department to initiate the appropriate medical personnel and equipment in preparation for the emergency.

On September 8, 2003 and Advanced Life Support agreement was approved between the DLSC and Regional One to assure that ALS assistance would be available on all calls needing ALS care.

A Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting was held on October 25, 2004 for the DLSC's new Training Center. The new Training Center would provide an improved training area with up to date equipment.

In 2003 and 2004 sensor activated interceptors were placed at 36 intersections in the Danville area. The interceptors possess the capability of sensing oncoming emergency lights, thus changing the traffic lights to green allowing faster and safer movement of the emergency transport unit through traffic.

On January 12, 2004 the crew approved the participation of the Danville Firefighters in the DLSC Vehicle Extrication Training, providing coordinated extrication attempts.

In June, 2005, DLSC modified the titles of their line officers from Captain, First Lieutenant and Sergeants and incorporated the Chief System as used by other agencies.

On July 1, 2005, the Danville Regional Medical Center was acquisitioned by LifePoint Hospitals out of Tennessee.

On May 15, 2006 during National EMS Week. Ribbon cutting and Grand Opening Cermonies were held at the new DLSC Northside Station.

On February 26, 2007, the crew welcomed Dr. John Dallara as Operational Medical Director (OMD) and also an associate member of the crew.  This allowed him to pull duty and run calls as member 799.

The EMS system has greatly progressed over the years in providing emergency medical assistance in the Danville and Pittsylvania County areas. County Agencies have been added to enhance County Services. These agencies include Blairs, Brosville, Callands, Chatham, Climax, Cool Branch, Gretna, Kentuck, Laurel Grove, Mount Cross, Mount Herman, Ringgold, 640 Rescue and Tunstall. Numerous hours are spent in training and as of today, the DLSC continues to be an all volunteer organization as it celebrates this year the 63^rd anniversary of providing medical services to the Danville and Pittsylvania County communities. The Danville Life Saving Crew has a
Peer Review Committee that reviews Patient Care Reports assuring appropriate medical attention is
provided in all cases. The DLSC also has a Pre-Hospital Committee that works closely with Dr. John Dallara, the OMD (Operational Medical Director). A tremendous amount of hard work has enabled the EMS system as a whole to improve each and every year since its beginning.

John McKinney, Historian - DLSC