DLSC Celebrates 73 Years Serving the Community

On September 18, 1945, fifteen men came together to create the Danville Life Saving and First Aid Crew, Inc. In the beginning, the Crew was located in the basement of the City Armory, uniforms were donated by Dan River Mills and Townes Funeral Home, personal vehicles were used to answer calls and equipment was donated by area businesses.

Fast forward 73 years, and the Crew has over 100 volunteers, state of the art equipment and numerous specialized vehicles. Danville Life Saving Crew is truly grateful to the members who created a strong foundation for the Crew to build on, as well as those who have assisted in its growth. They are also thankful for the amazing community that has supported them with donations and showed them love for over seven decades.

Below is a very abbreviated timeline of DLSC's 73 year commitment to the community.

1945 - The first Standard and Advanced First Aid and Water Rescue classes were held

1946 - DLSC ran its first emergency call

1953 - The first station wagon was purchased as a transport

1966 - The Clayton T. Lester Crew Hall was built

1972 - EMT classes offered advanced training for Crew members

1983 - The 9-1-1 systems was installed at the Danville Police Department

1986 - The helipad was built by the Crew Hall to help eliminate EMS ground transports

1991 - The first paramedic class was completed and DLSC's first Nationally Certified Paramedics began to run calls

2004 - DLSC's training center held its grand opening

2006 - DLSC's Northside Station was established

2017 - DLSC added a new drone program and the Danville Area Training Center's 3,600 sq. ft. expansion was complete