In September 1951 the Orange County Rescue Squad, Inc. was chartered. The Squad started with about 25 interested Orange County citizens. The operation and need for a rescue squad was questionable to the citizens of this county. They really did not know what the squad was all about. Fredericksburg, Virginia had a squad for sometime prior to the formation of the Orange squad. Fredericksburg Rescue Squad helped establish the Orange County Rescue Squad, Inc.

    Starting with no funds or equipment, these interested persons from Orange took and received certification in first aid from the Red Cross. Senator Pitts, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, donated the first ambulance to the Orange County Rescue Squad, Inc. Things were beginning to roll along. The first call was to the Orange Airport where a man had been injured by the prop of an airplane. Still with limited funds and donations few and far between the squad members themselves were buying gas and oil to operate the ambulance.

    As time went by things were looking better. It was noticed by the citizens of Orange that the squad was here to stay. Fund drives and generous donations were making the squad grow. The squad was able to purchase a new Ford panel truck for use as a crash truck and back-up ambulance. Soon a new Pontiac station wagon was purchased. This brought them up to 2 ambulances and a crash truck/ambulance combination. By 1957 calls were picking up and accidents on the highway were becoming more frequent. The squad saw fit to buy a truck to be used exclusively for a crash truck. They purchased a new 1957 Ford with a utility body on it. New extrication equipment was placed on the truck. A boat was added to the squad sometime around this time. A homemade trailer was constructed to pull this boat.

    As calls increased, so did expenses. The squads fund drive goals were becoming higher each year. The citizens were still responding very generously.

    In the middle 60's the squad found that the working space in the ambulance were becoming more limited. They started replacing the station wagons with carryalls and converting them to ambulance use. Ambulances were replaced every 3 years. This was continued until 1971 and the squad bought a new Ford 4-wheel drive vehicle to be used as a backup crash truck/ambulance combination. Then a 3rd ambulance was put into service. The boat equipment was found to be in need of replacement. One large boat and two small boats and trailers were purchased to replace our old boats.

    Membership during this time had also changed. Faces and names changed about as regular as the ambulances themselves. Training requirements were also changing. The squad was becoming big business! It was a job just keeping up with the changes.

    Because of difficulty in getting members to respond for calls we needed a new system for summoning members. Through private donations over and beyond normal operating funds a new paging system was purchased and placed into service. This allowed duty personnel to move around and still be in contact for emergency calls. This cost was in excess of $7500 to begin operations.

    In 1975 the entire squad took an EMT (Emergency Medical Technician) course which was an 80-hour course. This was a big change to meet state requirements. Ambulance services were being upgraded tremendously along with ambulance specifications.

    In 1976, five squad members enrolled in a Cardiac Technician course. Heart calls had been high on the list of emergency calls. These men went through extensive training in cardiac care, monitoring and drug therapy. Through private funds and federal funds the squad was able to purchase $20,000 in cardiac equipment. In 1977, the Mobile Coronary Care unit came into existence in Orange County. During this time a 4th ambulance was purchased. This brought the squad a total of 4 ambulances, 2 crash trucks, and 3 boats.

    Then in 1977 one of the biggest changes came into being. The first female was voted in as a member of the squad. Several female members have now become members. Our numbers of cardiac technicians have increased and these as well as others have also had shock trauma courses.

    Then in the fall of 1978 interested persons from the town of Gordonsville expressed interest in having a rescue unit based in their town. A satellite unit was discussed at a meeting at the squad building and plans were made to form a satellite unit. In May of 1980 a new Ford van was put into service in Gordonsville. It was an expansion of the Orange County Rescue Squad, Inc.

    In 1979, several interested spouses and county citizens expressed their desire to organize a Ladies Auxiliary. After careful planning it was organized in April of that year.

    During these past years our squad also had the pleasure to help 2 other squads come into existence, Madison County Rescue Squad and Charlottesville-Albemarle Rescue Squad. This we are proud of. Another big change was a move to a new squad headquarters. Our old building located on Madison Road had become outdated and busting at the seams.

    In July 1979 a long awaited dream came true. We were able to purchase and move to a larger building on Route 20 By-pass. It was a building that needed major changes to enable us to make it habitable for the squad, but it was a new building.

    1981 brought into being even another big change. Since the formation of the Gordonsville Satellite unit in 1978, we then had the expansion of a unit in the east end of the County. January 1981 started the ball rolling. Several interested persons applied for membership and were voted into the squad in March 1981. The new satellite unit is called the Battlefield Unit of the Orange County Rescue Squad. By Spring of 1982 an ambulance was based in the Rhoadesville, Mine Run area. With this addition it sped up our response time to this area.

    In 1997, after careful consideration of the members and the lack of their availability in the daytime hours the County Board of Supervisors were approached by the Squad to consider the possibility of a paid staff to be hired to help our volunteers answer calls during the day. After several discussions and work sessions the first paid member was hired in December of 1998 and started working in January of 1998. In the later part of the spring of 1998 three individuals were hired and to date there are 12 paid members.

    In 2002, the Squad changed their rank structure, making their Captain the Rescue Chief, their First Lieutenant the Assistant Rescue Chief, their Lieutenants became Captains, and their Sergeants became Lieutenants.

    Many things have changed since September 1951. Many goals have been set by the squad over the years and many dreams have come true. Since the first few years when the number of calls ranged a couple of hundred to the present of over 4600 calls per year, time and money spent have become unbelievable. But the squad has endured time, hardships, and change itself.

    As time moves on the Orange County Rescue Squad, Inc. continues to render care to the sick and injured in their time of need.