History

 

Charles County Rescue Squad is the county's oldest volunteer rescue operation and one that owes much of its' heritage to the Hotel, Restaurant and Tavern Association of Charles County.

 

The Squad can trace its roots back to an April 11, 1952 public appeal through the local newspaper for "drivers for the hospital ambulance."  The Tavern Association donated an ambulance and delivery was expected sometime in May of that year but manpower was needed to provide the services.  Shortly after the arrival of the ambulance, the Charles County Ambulance Service was formed to provide emergency response to the citizens of Charles County.

 

Six men actively responded to emergency calls during the first few months of the ambulances operation; Tommy Posey, J.B. "Snorter" Martin, Danny Raymond, Donald Poole, William Boone and Michael Stone.  However, the efforts of this group were temporarily suspended in July when the company went out of service due to repairs to the ambulance.

 

On September 26, 1952, the operation started back up and again a public appeal was made for more drivers.  Following that appeal the first meeting of the newly named Charles County Volunteer Rescue Squad was held on November 30, 1952; thirteen men attended.  As is done now, Wednesday evenings were devoted to drills and business meetings and in 1953, after the first full year of operation, Squad members' responded to a total of 206 calls.  For comparison, in 2006 the Squad responded to 2476 calls.

 

Following a brief period with John Boswell as Captain, J.B. "Snorter" Martin took over the leadership operations of the Squad, a position he held for two years.  During the early years of the Squad's existence members operated out of a garage connect to the LaPlata Fire House, occasionally having to climb through a window to raise the bay door to respond.  In 1962, construction plans for the Rescue Squad's own building were underway and soon, 2 Calvert Street became the permanent, and still current, location for the Charles County Rescue Squad.

 

Over the years the Squad has used many different styles of ambulance; from the early days of the Cadillac wagons to the modern Ford's the styles and brands may have changed, but the mission remains the same.  In 1990, when unit 829, a van style ambulance, was scheduled for replacement the Squad elected to be the first in the county to operate an International brand chassis which included a lager box than the standard ambulance.  This unit, later designated 519, became the county's first Multi-Casualty Unit and remained in service until 2005 when it was replaced with a Ford van-chassis Horton designed ambulance.  It maintains its designator, Ambulance 519, but is no longer a Multi-Casualty Unit.

 

Time changes perspective and needs and as the Squad had evolved thought out the years, so too has the need for its service and the tools necessary to carry out the mission of providing emergency medical care to the citizens of La Plata and the County. 

 

As time moves forward, so too will this History.  Please continue to check back as we, the current generation, assemble the pieces of our heritage – some scattered about when the tornado devastated our building, others lost and found in memory -- and rebuild them into this narrative.

 

Thank you.