After 90 years of service to the City of Covington and Alleghany County, the Covington Volunteer Rescue Squad is alive and well, providing Emergency Medical Service to the community. Currently, the volunteer squad has 25 members on roll, all dedicated to carrying out the long tradition of EMS care to the sick and injured. On the rescue squad’s 90th anniversary of continued service, this is how the history unfolded:
In 1909, a boy was walking along the Roanoke River in Roanoke, Virginia, when he witnessed two men capsize a canoe in deep, rough water. Though many onlookers saw the accident, none of them had the equipment or training to help the ill-fated men. As a result, both men drowned. The boy, Julian Stanley Wise, later said of the incident, “I vowed that never again would I watch a man die when he could have been saved, if only those around him knew how.”
Then in 1928, Wise organized and created the first ever volunteer rescue squad in America: the Roanoke Life Saving Crew. And so, the Rescue Squad movement had begun.
Creation of the Covington Rescue Squad goes −hands down− to Fred C. Jesser. Born in Philadelphia, Pa., Jesser moved his family to Covington in 1901 where he opened the “Covington Bakery and Confectionery Company” on Maple Ave. Jesser also worked for the Town of Covington in the water filtration plant. That same year, Fred Jesser, along with several other men, gathered at the Alleghany County Courthouse to organize the Covington Fire Department. Mr. Jesser was later elected as their first Fire Chief. Chief Jesser became a statewide icon as he was elected President of the Virginia
Firemen’s Association. On August 25, 1926, Chief Jesser was again elected as President of the Virginia Fireman’s Association. Over a 20-year period, Chief Jesser also served the Fireman’s Association as both Treasurer and Vice President. The Covington Volunteer Fire Department began to receive calls from those in need. Members aided in rescuing flood victims, dragged the river for drowning persons, and formed search parties to look for people lost in the mountains.
Chief Jesser annually attended the National Fire Chief’s Convention in Los Angeles, California. In 1932, Chief Jesser returned home to Covington and introduced to the fire department an idea of forming a first aid crew to work in conjunction with the fire department.
The idea became a reality at the November 1932 fire department meeting. The following firemen signed up as charter members; Lloyd Steele, who was elected as the first captain of the First Aid Crew, John Knighton, Otho Knighton, Howard Fridley, Ernest Bosserman, Sr., Eddie Q. Jones, Clyde Overholt, John W. Hughes, Reginald K. Wolfe, C.C. King, J.C. Myers, Ralph Brown, and T. Gray Keirn.
Basic and advanced first aid classes were taught by the late Dr. William J. Ellis which included 34 hours of instruction on atomic damage. Dr. Ellis had a long tenure as the medical advisor for the rescue squad, which he held until June 30, 1996. Dr. Ellis was an Honorary Member of the Covington Rescue Squad.
Six of the fourteen men went on to become instructors in standard first aid. After the first aid classes were completed, the Covington Fire Department First Aid and Life Saving Crew was officially organized in April 1933. Right away, the town purchased materials to complement minor equipment already on hand. A truck belonging to the fire department was converted into a unit to carry the crew’s equipment.
Soon, it was realized that the community needed ambulance service and, after a six-week fund drive by the first aid crew, $3,100 was raised and a 1934 Buick ambulance was purchased. The ambulance was described in the November 22, 1933 edition of the “Covington Virginian Newspaper,” now the “Virginian Review,” as “The $3,800 ambulance that will be used by the first aid squad of the Covington Fire Department has arrived and is ready for inspection as well as service. It was described as a handsome vehicle, the color of the body being Bangor green while the fenders and top are Colorado tan Equipment. Included is a Baumgardner cot, side rails and foot rest, large siren, two attendant seats, medicine cabinets, rescue equipment, axe, wrecking bar, saw, one suspended stretcher, splints, heater, spotlights, electric fan, and red driving lights.”
In September 1933, the crew became a charter member of the International Rescue Squad Association, which was organized in Atlantic City, New Jersey. On February 12, 1935, the Covington Fire Department First Aid and Life Saving Crew also became a charter member after helping to organize the Virginia Association of Volunteer Rescue Squad, Inc.
From 1933 until 1949, the first aid crew rendered emergency and non-emergency ambulance service to the area. In 1949, it was decided to turn the non-emergency ambulance service over to the Loving Funeral Home Service, and the first aid crew turned their attention toward emergencies. Today, several agencies throughout the region provide non-emergency ambulance service. At that time, the 1934 Buick ambulance was replaced with a 1948
Oldsmobile crew car and a 1948 panel truck complete with all modern equipment.
From 1933 until 1938, the Covington Fire Department First Aid and Life Saving Crew was the only volunteer rescue squad in the Alleghany Highlands area. In 1938, the Westvaco Rescue Squad was organized, but initially did not respond to calls outside of the mill property. It wasn’t until the Clifton Forge Rescue Squad was formed in 1945 that Covington had assistance in covering the broad area of the Highlands. In 1967, when the crew celebrated its 35th Anniversary, the first aid crew received 500 calls for service that year totaling 2,500 man hours.
In the 1980’s , the rescue squad averaged around 1,100 calls for service each year, traveling 19,000 miles and expending 6,300 man hours. Today the rescue squad averages over 1700 calls for service including paid EMS and countless hours expended by the crew, attending business meetings, drill meetings, training, public education to the schools and the citizens, maintaining first aid certifications, etc.
In 1974, several first aid crew members took the newly state certified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) class. Also, in the 1970’s, the hit TV series “Emergency 51” spread the pre-hospital “Advanced Life Support Care” across America like wildfire. It did not take the Covington Fire Department First aid and Life Saving crew long, grabbing a piece of the wildfire fever. In 1978 a few members of the crew were certified as Shock Trauma Technicians. This enabled them to do some advanced life support measures in the pre-hospital setting, such as advanced airway techniques and IV fluid therapy. This proved to enhance patient care.
Furthermore, in 1982 the crew joined the other area squads in a massive community fund raising event to secure funds for cardiac monitoring/defibrillation equipment as well as training. Four of the crew members were certified as Cardiac Technicians. Since that time, several folks in the Alleghany Highlands area have survived life-threatening events due to the Cardiac Tech Program that would have otherwise been fatal.
When the crew was founded in 1933, it was stipulated that all members had to be members of the fire department. In an effort to increase membership and due to the continuously strenuous lifesaving and rescue training requirements, the first aid crew voted to split from the fire department in 1981. Then, Fire Chief Jerry Burks, a former first aid captain, helped the crew set up by-laws and polices to ensure a smooth transition when the squad and fire department separated their charters. Following the split in December1981, for the first time in the first aid crew’s history, men and women could join without being a member of the fire department.
Captain Harrison Scott was at the helm of the crew when the split took place and soon after, the organization was renamed, at a motion from member Winnie McCallister, the Covington Rescue Squad.
A female applied for membership in February 1982 but was rejected. Then on March 5, 1982, Virginia Black Montgomery was elected as the first women in the rescue squad. In April 1982, Sharon Crookshanks was the second women elected and then Teresa Wilhelm was then elected as the third woman in the rescue squad. Teresa, now retired member of the crew, went on to become the first elected woman President and Captain of the Covington Rescue Squad during her tenure. These women, current and past, have proven their place in what was once a man’s organization, and have made a positive impact on the success of the organization.
After keeping an ambulance parked on Church Street in the Edgemont area of Covington to cover emergency calls in the south side of the city and to improve response time with more members living in that area, it was decided to build a fire/rescue sub-station in that area. With the donation of land by — then Hercules Inc.— and the talent of architectural drawings by rescue squad member Jerry Burks (now retired), Station 2 was dedicated in April 1982. This modern two-bay station houses a fire engine and an advanced life support ambulance along with other equipment. The station also includes a rest room, office as well as storage area and is powered by a backup generator in times of power failures. Station 2 on Edgemont Drive was dedicated in honor of Jerry Burks for his efforts.
In the mid 1990’s —again to increase membership— the Covington Rescue Squad looked for solutions. There were potential folks who wanted to volunteer their time but did not have enough time in their lives to certify in EMT, pull night call and was looking to play mainly a support role with the organization. Thus, the Associate Program was created. Over the years this program grew and eventually, also created was a Junior Membership Program, which captured young teens from the high school level. Most of the Associate Members went on to attain their EMT certifications and stepping up as full members. This phase of the organization seems to fill the gap and has put the rescue squad back in a position of moving forward.
After the June 2012 Derecho, our crew responded to 63 EMS calls in less then 3 days. This storm seem to place a cruse on the crew. Although the Covington recovered, the calls never slowed. In 2015 the rescue squad approached City council asking for part time paid help as members were finding it harder to keep up with thw EMS calls. October 1, 2018, a city supported paid crew implemented to work in conjunction with the volunteers. This bonding has been a success.
Today, the Covington Rescue Squad is still supported by the city government budget along with donations from the public. We operate out of two stations with 3 advanced life support ambulances, a crash-rescue truck, Avon rubber boat with trailer, and a captain’s crew vehicle. We are 25 members strong and dispatched by the City of Covington Emergency 911 Center. Although our rich history enabled us to celebrate a milestone of 90 years of service to our community, we look forward to continuing our EMS success story, “still in the making.” We are a strong Virginia Association of Volunteer Rescue Squad family serving Virginians.
Memorable mentions in the last few years are: 1984, member Winnie McCallister made a motion to change the name of the Covington Fire Department First Aid & Life Saving Crew to the Covington Rescue Squad. The motion carried. 1991, then Governor Douglas Wilder presented the Covington Rescue Squad with the Virginia Governor’s Award for Volunteer Excellence. 1991, the Covington Rescue Squad was awarded the Organization of the Year,
presented by the Alleghany Highlands Chamber of Commerce. At the 65 th Annual Convention, the Covington rescue Squad was presented the Virginia Association of Volunteer Rescue Squads, “Rescue Squad of the Year.” At the 71 st Annual VAVRS Convention in Virginia Beach, the Modular Ambulance Vehicle Extrication Team, consisting of Greg Burton, Gary Fisher, Kim Vass, and Donnie Heironimus placed first, becoming State Champions. Currently, we are 2021 and 2022 EMT VAVRS State Champions